Joanne Gairy, better known by her stage name Jemeni, is an actress, writer, activist, broadcaster and community worker. She was born in Grenada, but grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario

St. Catharines, Ontario

St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...

 and now lives in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. She studied Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University

Ryerson University

Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

, Toronto.

She is a hip-hop poet, and works in Canadian broadcasting. She was formerly a host on Flow 93.5 FM

CFXJ-FM

CFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...

 and volunteered for the Ryerson University campus radio station CKLN-FM

CKLN-FM

CKLN.fm is a domain owned by Chris Scully which streams an internet radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which follows in the tradition of the former CKLN-FM.From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc...

. She is a music critic on Much Music and is an influential young Caribbean-Canadian woman. The Literature Alive series about Caribbean-Canadian authors (broadcast on on Bravo! Television October 6 to December 29, 2005), produced a documentary about Jemeni called Jemeni in the City.

Jemeni has won the Caribbean Women of Excellence Award, the Warning Award, the Tara Award, and the Canadian Urban Music award. She defended Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican science fiction and fantasy writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.Hopkinson has...

's novel Brown Girl in the Ring

Brown Girl in the Ring (novel)

Brown Girl in the Ring is a novel by writer Nalo Hopkinson. It was the winning entry in the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest and received the 1999 Locus Award for Best First Novel and earned Hopkinson the 1999 John W...

for the prestigious CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 Canada Reads

Canada Reads

Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...

book competition in February 2008.

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