SHORT BIO

d’bi.young is a playwright-performer, director-dramaturge and activist-educator, who creates, embodies and teaches decolonial performance praxis. Culminating their PhD in Black womyn’s theatre at London South Bank University (LSBU), their research centres on the epistemological, ontological, cosmological, ethical, aesthetic and somatic emancipation of the oppressed self, through theatre making. d’bi.young developed the Anitafrika Method—a nurturant Black-queer-feminist pedagogy of transformation—offering arts practitioners globally, an intersectional framework of knowing, doing and being. A widely anthologised Siminovitch Playwright Prize finalist, three-time Dora award winner, and founding Artistic Director of Watah Theatre, Spolrusie Press and Ubuntu Decolonial Arts Centre in Costa Rica, d’bi.young has authored twelve plays, seven albums, and four poetry collections. Currently they are lead faculty at Soulpepper and Obsidian's theatre training programs and a lecturer in theatre at the University of Victoria BC.

MEDIUM BIO

d’bi.young is an internationally acclaimed Black-queer-feminist non-binary dub poet, playwright-performer, dramaturge-director, and scholar-activist whose visionary contributions to theatre, education, and leadership have made space for rigorous decolonial practice. With over 25 years of trailblazing artistry, their work spans twelve written plays, seven produced dub poetry albums, and four published poetry collections, earning three Dora Awards, a KM Hunter Theatre Award, the Global Leader in Theatre & Performance Award, the Canadian Poet Award and recognition as a Siminovitch Playwright Award finalist.

As the founder of transformative initiatives such as Watah Theatre, Ubuntu! Decolonial Arts Centre, and Spolrusie Publishing, d’bi.young mentors Black, Indigenous, and Global Majority artists worldwide. Their Anitafrika Method, an intersectional praxis rooted in Black feminist thought, has revolutionized arts-based practices nationally and internationally.

Most recently awarded a $242,500 archives grant, d’bi.young’s groundbreaking PhD research addresses fundamental research gaps on Black womxn’s theatre. As a multi-hyphenate educator, they lead theatre training programs at Soulpepper Theatre and Obsidian Theatre, while lecturing at the University of Victoria.

From their seminal play blood.claat, to their forthcoming play anthology dubbin theatre, d’bi.young’s unwavering commitment to liberation, cultural preservation, and artistic excellence exemplifies the transformative power of the performing arts.

PROFILE

Recently awarded a $242,500 grant by Canada Council for their Black Womxn Theatre Archive Project, Siminovitch Playwright Award finalist d’bi.young anitafrika, is a visionary Black-queer-feminist non-binary dub poet, playwright-performer, dramaturge-director, and scholar-activist, committed to embodying emancipatory arts-based practice that ritualises acts of liberation from oppressions inflicted upon the people and the planet. Emerging in the early 2000s with trailblazing work such as writing & performing the play blood.claat directed & dramaturged by Weyni Mengesha, playing Staceyanne in Trey Anthony’s ‘da kink in my hair, and Crystal in the Frances-Ane Solomon television series Lord Have Mercy, as well as being a practitioner in the inaugural Soulpepper Theatre Academy and playing Lady in Red in Ntozake Shange’s For Coloured Girls directed by Djanet Sears, d’bi.young has made pioneering contributions to theatre, education, and leadership through the arts for over twenty-five years. They have authored twelve plays, seven albums & four poetry collections—headlining poetry & literary festivals, theatre seasons, and academic conferences globally—earning accolades such as three Dora awards & over a dozen nominations, a KM Hunter Theatre award, a Rosemary Sadlier Freedom award, a Global Leader in Theatre & Performance award, a Canadian Poet of Honour award, a YWCA Womxn of Distinction in the Arts award, and most recently, the 2025 Lehan Family Activism & the Arts Visiting Artist at the University of Victoria and a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize finalist.

d’bi.young developed the Anitafrika Method—a nurturant Black-queer-feminist decolonial praxis and pedagogy of transformation which they teach across Southern & Western Africa, the Caribbean, Turtle Island, and Europe—designed to offer arts and non-arts practitioners, an intersectional liberatory framework of knowing, doing & being. Their PhD research centring on the personhood, practice & pedagogy of Black womxn theatre-makers, constitutes a groundbreaking hybrid monograph-memoir addressing the gross research gaps in this field of Black womyn’s theatre and performance. d’bi.young’s work provides a foundation for the emerging discipline of critical studies in Black Womxn's Theatre in Northern Turtle Island. Using the Anitafrika Method as a devising framework, they have supported the writing and development, as well as served as dramaturge-director on canonical plays such as Ngozi Paul's Emancipation of Ms. Lovely, Raven Dauda's Addicted, Najla Nubyanluv's I Cannot Lose My Mind, and Sashoya Simpson's Lulu.

They have mentored hundreds of practitioners in theatre companies, universities and arts residencies worldwide as well as through their social justice arts initiatives such as The Watah Theatre which offers practitioner-centred performance training for Black Indigenous, and Global Majority artists, Ubuntu! Decolonial Arts Centre—an international hub in Costa Rica for anti-colonial arts practice, and Spolrusie Publishing—a micro-press specialising in transformative works by Black arts practitioners. Notable publications include Decolonial Frameworks by Black Arts Practitioners, introducing nine anti-oppression body-mind approaches to arts training. Funded by Canada Council, d’bi.young designed & facilitated the program with a cohort of nine Black arts leaders. Secondly, the Dubbin Monodorama Anthology: Black Masculinities in African Diaspora Theatre, featuring the biomyths Who Am I by Webster McDonald, 11:11 by Samson Brown, and speaking of sneaking by daniel jelani ellis. And thirdly, Dubbin Poetry: The Collected Poems of d'bi.young anitafrika, which features four collections: art on black, rivers & other blackness between us, OYA, and black love matters.

Most recently, d’bi.young has held lectureships at Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance and London South Bank University as a decolonial theatre practice, leadership & education specialist. Utilising the Anitafrika Method, they design courses that reframe playwriting, devising, acting, performance, directing, dramaturgy, spoken word, storytelling, and literary performance & curriculum development from a decolonising epistemological, ontological, cosmological, ethical, & aesthetic perspective. They are lead faculty at Soulpepper Theatre Academy & Obsidian Theatre’s Young, Gifted, & Black training program. d’bi.young lectures in the theatre department at the University of Victoria on the traditional territory of the WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees), Wyomilth (Esquimalt) peoples of the Coast Salish Nation. Their latest research involves completing Dubbin Theatre: The Collected Plays of d'bi.young anitafrika and co-editing The Arts of Black Activism anthology with Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware & Ra'anaa Ekundayo.

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LONG BIO

d'bi.young anitafrika is a visionary artist, activist, and academic with a diverse body of storytelling work encompassing dub poetry, theatre, arts education, and social justice. Their transformative theatre practice addresses social inequities, acting as a potent catalyst for emancipation and societal change. As a nonbinary African-Xaymacan-Tkarontonian womxn, d'bi.young has made significant contributions to the decolonisation of theatre and performance in Canada and globally through their dynamic, unapologetic, and celebratory dedication to Black queer feminist theatrical forms; using theatre to mobilise excluded communities in the arts. Their numerous distinctions, including three Dora Awards and twelve nominations, two Summerworks Spotlight Awards, a Canadian Poet of Honour Award, a KM Hunter Theatre Award, a Harold Award, a Womxn of Distinction Award, and a Global Leader in Theatre and Performance Award from Arts Council England, attest to their worldwide influence on storytelling and arts education.

A remarkable theatre-maker of twelve plays, such as the highly acclaimed Sankofa and Orisha Trilogies, d'bi.young has also produced seven dub poetry albums and published four dub poetry collections. Their work has been extensively toured throughout Canada and received critical praise across five continents. Through their intricate monodramas and poetry, d'bi.young confronts misogynoir, racism, homophobia, classism, and other manifestations of colonial-historical-systemic oppression. Extensively published in anthologies, periodicals and magazines, their creative and scholarly writings mirror a consistent engagement with audiences through their transformative art, exemplified in their recent performance in the 20th-anniversary remount of Trey Anthony's 'da kink in my hair produced by Soulpepper Theatre and directed by Weyni Mengesha. The National Post, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star have recognized d'bi.young as a spellbinding contemporary storyteller.

As the Founding Artistic Director of organizations such as fiwi aat space, anitafrika dub theatre, Watah Theatre, and Spolrusie Press (created to publish the literatures of global majority practitioners) d'bi.young has dedicated over 20 years to serving the community as a theatre interventionist, pioneering theatre residencies, anti-oppression performance trainings, and community theatre initiatives. During that time, d'bi.young has been a catalyst for numerous Black-queer-feminist community-focused theatre projects, guiding and fostering the development of hundreds of Canadian artists who have now become industry leaders in theatre and performing arts. Artists such as CBC’s Amanda Parris, Poet Laureate Randell Adjei, Soulpepper Theatre’s Luke Reece, The Handmade Tale’s Bahia Watson, Theatre Centre’s Liza Paul, Obsidian Theatre’s daniel jelani ellis, norblack norwhite’s Mriga Kapadiya, Playwright-Performers Raven Dauda and Ngozi Paul and Photographers Anthony Gebrehiwot and Che Kothari, have all studied the Anitafrika Method with d’bi.young.

As a pioneer in decolonial performance practice, d'bi.young developed The Anitafrika Method, a Black-queer-feminist framework rooted in their mothxr Anita Stewart's dub poetry theory. This method is the pedagogical foundation for Soulpepper Theatre Academy, where d'bi.young has been the Curriculum Designer and Lead Faculty of the Decolonial Performance Praxis and Biomyth Monodrama Module for three years, guiding a new wave of performance artists in decolonizing their theatrical practices. They have also maintained lecture positions at London South Bank University and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance and undertaken an Artist-Scholar Residency at the University of Toronto, focusing on their specialized knowledge of decolonising theatre using the Anitafrika Method. d'bi.young continues to disseminate the Anitafrika Method globally through keynote addresses, lectures, workshops, and consultations at various venues and universities, including the United Nations, South Africa's and Nigeria's International Book Fairs, Berlin's Afrolution International Black Literary Festival, Addis Ababa University, SOAS, University College Dublin, Glasgow University, Ryerson University, and MaRS.

Presently working towards a PhD at London South Bank University on a full Dean's Academic Scholarship, d'bi.young's research delves into the decolonial practices and transformative pedagogies of Black womxn theatre-makers in Canada, building on the Anitafrika Method. Through ongoing endeavours such as publishing the first volume of their collected theatrical works titled "dubbin theatre," founding Ubuntu! Decolonial Arts Centre in Costa Rica, and authoring the inaugural monograph on Black womxn's theatre in Canada, d'bi.young anitafrika persistently leaves a lasting imprint on the Canadian cultural landscape.

THEATRE INTERVENTIONIST

As a Theatre Interventionist, d’bi.young anitafrika’s work focuses primarily on supporting the holistic growth and development of change-makers through the use of poetry and drama in intensives, masterclasses, artist residencies and leadership training globally. For over two decades they have designed and facilitated workshops and courses in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, North and South America and South Asia, using their Anitafrika Method as a tool for personal and social transformation; helping innovators to develop their voice and empowering them to embody leadership in work that they do. Their arts-based intervention, grounded in reflexivity, accountability and integrity, has been utilised in universities such as Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, SOAS, University Arts London, and the University of Toronto; by organisations in Canada such as MaRs, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and Women’s Health in Women’s Hands and by international events such as South Africa Book Fair, Sommarscen in Sweden and the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. A trail-blazer in theatre for human development, d’bi.young has been invited to deliver Keynote addresses, design programs and share their poetry on arts, equity and social justice in Ethiopia at the University of Addis Ababa, in Ireland at the University College Dublin, in Scotland at Glasgow University, in Jamaica at University of Technology and in New York at the United Nations. Most recently they were invited to be the Director of Curriculum Design & Pedagogy of Soulpepper Theatre’s new Academy in Canada. Founding Artistic Director of Canada’s Watah Theatre and Spolrusie Publishing, d’bi.young has mentored emerging and established Black, Indigenous, queer, trans, and non-binary artists during their tenure from 2008-2018 at Watah, addressing issues of gender, sexuality, race, class and the humxn experience. d’bi.young is currently writing Dubbin Praxis: An Introduction to the Anitafrika Method as part of their fully funded PhD research.

DUB POET | PERFORMER

Recently described as a legendary Black Canadian playwright by CBC’s Amanda Parris, d’bi.young anitafrika is a triple Dora-award-winning author of twelve produced plays, seven distributed Dub albums and four published collections of poetry. A Canadian Poet of Honour and Womxn of Distinction in the Arts, d’bi.young anitafrika is also the recipient of nine Dora nominations, a KM Hunter Theatre award, a Mayor’s Arts award, a Vital People award, a Toronto Leadership Lab Fellow alumni, and a finalist for both the Ontario Premier Arts Award and the William Kilbourn Award. They have headlined countless events worldwide as a Keynote guest including at the Canadian Writers’ Summit, PuSh International Arts Festival and the Banff Centre, in Canada; Abuntu Book & Arts Festival in South Africa, Afrolution in Germany, Poetas in Spain, Ink Talks in India and Manifesto in Jamaica. In 2019 d’bi.young published their fourth collection of poetry—dubbin poetry—and the second book in their Dubbin Series—Dubbin Monodrama Anthology 1: Black Masculinities in African Diaspora Theatre. Their current PhD autoethnography centres on decolonial performance, praxis and pedagogy in theatre. Projects include working as Theatre Interventionist on the UN’s Resilience Fund Fellowship and completing their forthcoming anthology Dubbin Theatre: The Collected Plays of d’bi.young anitafrika (the fourth title in the Dubbin Praxis pentalogy). 

 PRIOR LONG BIO

d’bi.young anitafrika is a multidisciplinary artist. African Jamaican Dub poet, playwright, monodramatist, and educator, they are internationally celebrated as a visionary storyteller, a passionate humxnist, and a leader in the development of arts education. Their pan-Africanist trans-disciplinary explorations of identity, gender, sexuality, class, and human experience make an indelible mark on the Canadian and global cultural landscape. Latest projects include the upcoming dubbin theatre collection of their plays.

They are the published author of twelve plays: Once Upon a Black Boy, Androgyne, Solitary, She, Domestic and Nanny: Maroon Warrior Queen); The Sankofa Trilogy featuring: Blood.Claat, Benu, & Word! Sound! Powah!; The Orisha Trilogy featuring: Esu Crossing The Middle Passage, Mami Wata & The PussyWitch Hunt, and Lukumi: A Dub Opera), four collections of poetry (Art on Black, Rivers and Other Blackness Between Us, OYA & dubbin poetry: the collected poems of d’bi.young anitafrika), seven dub poetry albums (including Wombanifesto made in Cuba, 333 made in South Africa, and Civil Rights Mixtape made in Canada), a comic book set in Jamaica called Shemurenga: Back Supah Shero and a deck of instructional cards containing her Anitafrika Method. Specialising in what they term Biomyth Monodrama, d’bi.young creates one-person plays comprised of music, poetry, dance, and drama that chronicle the stories of global peoples and our quests for self-actualisation, creating complex, multi-dimensional Black womxn and genderqueer protagonists.

Having completed seven global performance and teaching tours, d’bi.young has shared the stage with New York times best-selling author and advocate Janet Mock; Zimbabwe’s celebrated singer-songwriter Oliver Mtukudzi; legendary African-American poet Saul Williams; South Africa’s literary wordsmith Rustum Kozain; and renowned Ivory Coast storyteller Werewere Liking. They have also participated in art projects featuring Leonard Cohen, novelist Margaret Atwood, Sri Lankan-Canadian poet Michael Ondaatje, Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan, and world renowned singers Alicia Keys, Angelique Kidjo, Annie Lennox, and Sarah McLachlan. d’bi.young was invited to be a guest speaker at India’s Inktalks in association with TED where they presented stories of three womxn: a survivor of childhood sexual trauma, an hiv positive womxn, and a young gxrl coming of age.

A Keynote Speaker and headliner at numerous conferences, universities, festivals and organisations worldwide, they have featured at: Nottingham Contemporary in the UK, Sommarscen in Malmo Sweden, the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, Afrolution Literary Festival in Berlin Germany, Goteborg Book Fair, Uppsala International Poetry Festival, Palais du Tokyo in Paris France, the Canadian Writers Summit, The Black Feminist Forum/AWID in Brazil, Thinklandia in Victoria, Poetry Africa in Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, Goteborg Poesifestival, Kosmopolis in Barcelona, Bushfire in Swaziland, Manifesto in Canada and Jamaica, Badilisha in Cape Town, Canwest Cabaret Toronto, Calgary International Folk and Spoken Word Festivals, Vancouver Folk Fest, Havana International Reggae Fest, and Toronto’s International Dub poetry Festival. They have also appeared on Def Poetry Jam, starred in the Canadian sitcom Lord Have Mercy alongside distinguished Jamaican actor Leonie Forbes, and is an original Dora-nominated lead cast member of ‘da kink in my hair.

EDUCATOR/INSTIGATOR

For the two past decades, d’bi.young has mentored countless artists through their world-wide performances, speaking engagements, and arts-education projects. They have worked with theatre companies, universities, cultural organisations, and social institutions across North America, the Caribbean, South Asia, South America, Europe and Africa including the United Nations, the Banff Centre, MaRS Discovery District - Studio Y, the University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson University, George Brown College and the Manifesto Festival of Art and Culture.

From 2011 to 2012 they worked as Curator at the Africa Centre in Cape Town, South Africa in their Badilisha Poetry X-Change program, a global podcast platform featuring Pan African poets from within and outside of the continent of Africa. In 2008 they founded anitafrika! dub theatre in Toronto Canada and proceeded to design and facilitate two tuition-free twelve-month national residencies for emerging playwrights instructing them in the Anitafrika Method her Biomyth Monodrama model and assisting them in formulating their own solo performance shows. This initiative grew to become The Watah Theatre—a space for BIQTPOC (Black, Indigenous, Queer, Trans, People of Colour) artists who are under-represented in mainstream theatre, addressing challenges in accessing mentorship & professional development as theatre practitioners by eliminating discriminatory selection practices. During its tenure (2008-2018), The Watah Theatre trained over 700 BIQTPOC artists in Toronto Canada. Through establishing Watah’s micro press—Spolrusie Publishing—Anitafrika was also able to publish the new plays, poetry and photography of Watah Theatre artists who otherwise may not have had an opportunity to do so.

d’bi.young’s other initiative, Yemoya, an international artist residency grew to become the Anitafrika Retreat Centre, an initiative that combines arts process with wellness practices for the holistic development of people. Residencies has been facilitated in Costa Rica, UK, Hawaii, Jamaica, Belize, The Bahamas, South Africa, India, the UK, and Canada. Near one hundred artists worldwide have graduated from Anitafrika’s Yemoya residency; many of whom have gone on to become celebrated artists, educators and activists. Anitafrika Method alumni include globally celebrated soca king Machel Montano, actor-playwright and co-Producer of ‘da kink in my hair television series Ngozi Paul and Manifesto founder and photographer Che Kothari; lecturer and performance artist Ria Righteous from the UK; from Zimbabwe, writer-activist Rudo Chigudu; writer-activist Raphael Cohen from the USA; and from Canada, CBC The Exhibitionist's host Amanda Parris, Sangoma artist and activist Samson Brown and singer/songwriter/filmmaker TiKA Simone.

Through their work in Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America, and Europe with youth and emerging artists, they have created the Anitafrika Method, an intersectional creative leadership praxis that cultivates holistic self-actualisation through arts education. The method is widely used by national and global change-makers such as The Stephen Lewis Foundation, The Banff Centre, U of T, and MaRS. d’bi.young received a grant from Toronto’s Women’s College hospital to conduct research using the Anitafrika Method as a health intervention in the lives of Black and diverse womxn. They were also invited by the Stephen Lewis Foundation to design the Arts Activism and Aids Academy grounded in the method where they facilitated workshops with womxn who work at the forefront of the AIDS pandemic in sub-saharan Africa.

AWARDS  

Monodramas have garnered d’bi.young awards in Canada, Jamaica, UK, and South Africa. They are the acclaimed recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction in the Arts Award, the Women’s Resiliency Award, three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding New Play (Blood.Claat 2006) and Outstanding Performance (Blood.Claat 2006) and Outstanding Performance (Mami Wata & The PussyWitch Hunt 2016), the KM Hunter Theatre Award, the Toronto Mayor’s Arts Award, a Toronto Leadership Lab Fellow (2015-2016), nine Dora nominations, the William Killbourn Award Finalist, Ontario Premier Arts Award finalist, Canada Council New Chapter Grant for $120, 000 and countless Best Solo Artist Awards and Critics Picks. As a Canadian Poet of Honour, d’bi.young anitafrika was recently featured as a top poet on CNN. They are also the recipient of a Vital People Award from the Toronto Foundation for their relentless commitment to social justice through the arts.

RECENT CREATIONS

d’bi.young anitafrika completed an intensive dance apprenticeship at Coba Dance Theatre and a playwright’s residency at Obsidian Theatre in Toronto, Canada in 2016.  They were the front person for the Afro-Dub-Fusion band – D’bi. & the 333 – with Sudanese master musician Waleed Abdulhamid. They recently completed their critically acclaimed Lukumi: A Dub Opera (formally entitled Bleeders), the third instalment of her celebrated Orisha Trilogy (which also features the Dora nominated premiere play Esu Crossing The Middle Passage and the Dora Award winning follow-up piece, Mami Wata & The PussyWitch Hunt); as well as her fourth collection of writings entitled dubbin poetry: the collected poems of d’bi.young anitafrika. d’bi.young has recently completed Postgraduate studies in Performance the UK and is engaged in funded doctoral studies research at London South Bank University decolonial performance praxis in Black womxn’s theatre.