“Poetry can be a home for your thoughts and feelings, and a place you can invite guests into.”
– J M Whyne, Sept. 2024 –
Janice Whyne––born in London, rooted in her Jamaican heritage, and deeply connected to Indonesia, where she lived for a decade. Her poetry explores identity, social justice, and human experience.
Poet
Her practice includes page and spoken word poetry. Her spoken word pieces often address critical social issues, confronting them head-on. Occurrences, such as the murder of George Floyd, the strip search of Child Q, and the ongoing oppression across the globe compel her to put pen to paper.
Performance Highlights:
- Two-time 1st runner-up at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Poetry Slam (2019 & 2022)
- Performances at venues across London and the UK including Flovortex, Voices in Power – London, and Poets Palace (Headliner)
Writer
She’s published two poetry collections. These include In Conversation, (2022, audiobook 2023) and Say It with a Haiku (2024). The latter emerged from her commitment to writing a daily haiku. Her poem, ‘Sitting with Amazing’, is part of the Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2021 Winners’ collection.
Publication Highlights (most recent first):
- The Caribbean Writer, Volume 39 | Part 1 | Possibilities: Beyond Tradition, Inside of Courage (2025) Three poems: Translating ‘Home’, Mi Deh Yah’, and Reasoning Sessions’
- Book review: Encounters with James Baldwin: Celebrating 100 Years for Writing Our Legacy (2025)
- ‘Her locks unveiled: poems from the Black in White poetry competition’ (2023).
- All My Relations, Vol. 5, Talbot-Heindl [pg 14] (2023)
- ‘Coffee & Contemplation: a taste of empowerment’ (2020)
- Coffee People Zine, Issue 10 (2020)
Creative Facilitator
Beyond performance, Janice extends her creative practice as a workshop facilitator. She also offers community-based poetry for well-being sessions. She’s provided sessions for Cancer Black Care and Spitalfields Crypt Trust. You can watch a glimpse of the CBC workshop here and a glimpse of the SCT workshop here.
Get in Touch
If you’d like to book a poet for your event, please fill out the contact form. I also run poetry workshops and am available for voice-over and narration work, as well as collaborations and commissions. If you’d like to book me for any of these services, please fill out the contact form. Include as much detail as possible, and I will be in touch as soon as possible.
- Follow/Connect: @jjsmuse (Instagram) JJsMuse (Facebook) @janichay (YT) Janice Whyne (LI)
- Check out my Poetry/Spoken Word (a sample) via this YouTube playlist and remember to subscribe
- Check out my Thursday Thoughts – weekly musings and motivation.
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