I AM
The me you see throughout this site is a glimpse into the past of who I was. Some of which I still am. I’m currently in the process of reincarnating myself into the artist/writer/storyteller I’m building up to be. The performer me is a shy girl who now loves to use her voice to perform, not on stage, but through audio recording and narrations.
The current me is a young audience theatre practitioner and children’s book author. I am also the founder of The Walking Griot collective, dedicated to creating and presenting work for black young audience and providing a gateway for black youth to build their skills in the theatre world.
The present me is my future as I move forward in my transition. I’m in the process of growing as I’ve navigated many spaces to finally find the voice that’s truly mine. I’m creating for the young ones through my various mediums and I’m so grateful to be doing so.
ARTIST BIO
Sashoya Simpson is a storyteller, writer and theatre practitioner, of Jamaican lineage, based in Toronto, Canada. Her artistic work embodies Caribbean folklore knowledge and cultural practices through theatre performance, visual and literary art. She has appeared in Bleeders by d’bi.young anitafrika (Summerworks Festival, 2016) and Lukumi (Tarragon Theatre, 2017). Her work has been published in Black Solo: Watah Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Monodrama Volumes 1, 2 & 3 as a playwright and in From The Root Zine as a storyteller/poet. She’s the award recipient of the ArtReach Pitch Contest (2016), Emerging Arts Finalist for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts (2017), Simminovitch Playwright Protege Finalist (2023) and her work has been shortlisted in the CANSCAIP Writing for Children Competition (2023). Her voice work includes The Journey Prize Stories (Penguin Random House Canada, 2023), San Souci and Other Stories by Dionne Brand (Penguin Random House Canada, 2023) and The Love Booth and Other Plays (Gailey Road Productions, 2023). Her stageplay, Lulu, was mounted in the Hamilton Fringe Festival 2024 and her first children’s picture book, The Instrument Maker, is set to release in 2026.
I REPRESENT
Growing up in Jamaica has allowed me to experience various elements of my culture which I continue to carry with me today. One of those highlights has been our folklore traditions which holds so much ancestral history, community and memory. Memory for me is home. It is my grandmother’s teachings. It is the ground on which I walked and felt free. It is the yard that raised me and the village which nurtured me.
When I first started writing, I spoke of my pain and hardships. This was well needed as it allowed me to unpack all that went unsaid and unsilenced my tongue. In this process, I started seeing the joy which was hidden behind those dark clouds and my writing shifted. My writing is not just for me anymore. I now write for my nieces and nephews, my unborn children and those needing the stories I share and the spaces I create.
The stories I choose to tell sits in a place of cultural identity and celebration, self-expression and discovery, joy, play, wonder, myth and fantasy. It’s important that more of our stories exist on stages and screen (animation) that not only reflect our physical likeness but truly embody us as Black people, as Caribbean people, as Africans.