Shane Koyczan is the first international performer to win the highly coveted Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam 2000. Shane bested over 250 competing poets from all over North America at the world's largest performance poetry competition. In addition, Shane is the youngest Individual Slam Champion in the history of the competition. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada , Shane attended the Creative Writing program at Okanagan University College. He is the winner of the Leonard Cohen Award for Best Song, the James Elroy Award for Best Voice and the W.B. Yeats Award for Best Poem, all while working in a video store to support his writing habit.