Famous Last Words Heart of the City
Famous Last Words is a spoken word poetry comedy show where poets participate in six rounds of a faux competition. They ‘compete’ in a series of poetry-related events that are in turn, ‘judged’ by our host (with input from Uni the Unicorn and our audience). There will be free chocolate, unicorn bubble guns and lots of silly poems. This episode will be hosted by Sean McGarragle and feature Mike McGee, Nisha Patel, Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal, RC Weslowski and Uni the Unicorn.
Mighty Mike McGee stands as a distinctive voice in the world of spoken word poetry, weaving together humor, storytelling, and education with the threads of his rich life experiences. Born in the vibrant city of San José, California, Mike entered the world facing the challenges of Spina bifida, a neural tube defect that has undeniably shaped his life’s trajectory. This condition, far from slowing him down, has propelled him into becoming an ardent advocate for pursuing passions fervently and without delay.
McGee’s journey through the realms of poetry and performance began to gather significant momentum in the early 2000s, marked by his groundbreaking victories in the competitive poetry slam scene. In 2003, he clinched the National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Championship, a feat he complemented with the Individual World Poetry Slam Grand Championship in 2006, making him the first ever to hold both titles. These victories were not just personal triumphs but milestones that placed him firmly on the global poetry map.
Beyond the competitive stage, McGee has been a relentless traveler, sharing his unique blend of poetry and humor across the United States, Canada, and Europe. His performances, characterized by their heartfelt sincerity and infectious laughter, have spanned several hundred thousand miles since 2002. McGee’s talents have been showcased on prestigious platforms such as HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, CBC Radio and Television, and NPR’s Snap Judgment, underlining his appeal to a broad audience. His historical performance at the University of Paris, la Sorbonne, in 2005 marked him as one of the first Americans to bring spoken word to the iconic institution, further cementing his role as a pioneer in the field.
McGee’s literary contributions are encapsulated in his first collection of humor and poetry, “In Search of Midnight,” published by Write Bloody Publishing. His involvement with Poetry Center San José since 2016, including a stint on its board of directors, showcases his commitment to nurturing the poetic community in his hometown.
Nisha Patel is a former Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton and a Canadian Poetry Slam Champion. She is a disabled culture worker with a passion for local arts and disability advocacy. Nisha holds an MA from Queen’s University and an MFA from UBC. Her works (Coconut, A Fate Worse Than Death) are available where books are sold. She is a recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal and the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund. Her third collection, For the Record, will be out in the fall of 2026 with Arsenal Pulp Press.
Nisha was a finalist for the Vallum Chapbook Award and has been published across Canada. She has works with Gap Riot, GUTS, filling Station, and This Magazine, among others, and in the anthologies The City Series, COVID Collections, and Hush No More: Poetry and Art to End Rape Culture. She was a semifinalist of the World Poetry Slam Championship and a finalist of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. She is also a seasoned host, curator, and organizer.
Nisha has performed and taught workshops, with over three hundred and fifty performances and to date. She lives and writes with her partner, fellow author Matthew James Weigel (Whitemud Walking).
Her website is nishapatel.ca, and you can find her online @anothernisha.
Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal, BA, BCL, LLB, LLM, MFA (she/her) is a writer, facilitator, former lawyer and critical race feminist who grew up in an immigrant household on the traditional, present, and future territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, Tsawwassen and Musqueam First Nations (Surrey and North Delta, BC). She has spent over two decades using arts-based methodologies to explore justice, healing, community-building and transformation, offering creative workshops across communities and institutions on Turtle Island.
Preeti firmly believes stories change the world by altering our ways of seeing, feeling and being with one another and the planet. Her work asks how language so often used to colonize, flatten and desensitize might instead bring us back to ourselves, oneness and each other.
RC Weslowski is an award-winning spoken word poet and radio broadcaster. He has featured at such distinguished events as the Nuyorican Café Poetry Slam, The Bowery Poetry Club, The Toronto Poetry Slam, The Art Bar Reading Series, Planet Poetry, The Poets Corner, The Otoba Poetry Slam, Song and Bird Reading Series, the Verses Festival of Words and now the Edmonton Poetry Festival. RC has led poetry “wordshops” with Word Travels Australia, The Banff Centre for the Arts, The Tuscon Poetry Festival, The Victoria Spoken Word Festival and many more. RC’s first book of poetry, “My Soft Response to the Wars” is out on Write Bloody North Publishing. www.writebloodynorth.ca
Sean McGarragle is a poet, storyteller, teacher, performer and event producer from the republic of East Vancouver. He is the founder of Death Rides a Unicorn, The Vancouver Story Slam, The Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and the Vancouver International Poetry Festival (now entitled Verses). He has performed and read his work from Dublin to Denver, from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to Madison Wisconsin. He is super excited to host this show and to showcase these great talents.
Uni the Unicorn is the antithesis of Death. Uni is joy and love, buoyant and distracting. Most of the time, Uni has chocolate and bubbles to share.
Famous Last Words: Heart of the City gathers writers, performers, and mischief‑makers for an evening of poetry that refuses to behave. Expect sharp twists, tender moments, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting.
Death Rides a Unicorn is all about unicorns, chocolate, bubbles, rainbows, humour, and joy 🦄🍫. By signing up here, you save your spot, help us plan the mayhem, and keep local, delightfully odd storytelling thriving.
This event would not be possible without the support of the League of Canadian Poets, The Writers Union of Canada, Event Magazine and of course, The DTES Heart of the City Festival.