Patrick de Belen

Patrick de Belen is a Toronto-based Filipinx-Canadian storyteller, arts educator, spoken word poet, writer and filmmaker. He is most known for his poetic collaborations with the Toronto Raptors, the NFL, CBC, his 2 spoken word EPs and multiple cine-poems he wrote and directed himself. He was the youngest poet to win a national poetry slam championship, awarded both the national Canadian Poet of Honour and Youth Poet of Honour title, and a few more storytelling accolades throughout his career. He has shared the stage with notable performers like The Roots, Shayne Koyczan and The Halluci Nation. PDB’s short documentary Tell Me A Story About Someone You Miss was selected as a finalist for the TVO Short Doc Competition (2023), and he is currently in post for his debut feature documentary Last Note, which won the inaugural 2023 Kalabaw Bursary, an award given to a Filipinx-Canadian filmmaker for post production, by the Reel Asian Film Festival. When he is not writing or sharing, he is an educator and youth mentor, partnering with many institutions like addiction centres, mental health focused organizations, libraries, schools, jails and more – advocating for storytelling opportunities in as many spaces as possible.