Jamaal Amir Akbari (JustJamaal ThePoet) is an award winning poet, arts educator, creative entrepreneur, and performance artist. As a poet, he was selected to be Ottawa’s first English Poet Laureate after 27 years in which the position had gone unfilled, while his career in arts education has earned him 2016’s Ontario Arts Educator Award. He has brought his practice to audiences locally and internationally and his defining moments are when he makes intimate connections with his participants during workshop exchanges and performance sets.

His topics range from emotional maturity to social justice, from parenting to the human condition, and has been highlighted in festivals, documentaries and educational institutions across the world. He resides in Ottawa, Canada, with his wife and seven children, using the national capital region as his launch pad to teach, mentor and advocate for the arts.