NANA IAN 
ADDO BUDU
KETEKU

IAN KETEKU

Nana Ian Budu Keteku is a poet, playwright, filmmaker, and educator

based in Toronto.

Ian Keteku is an award-winning poet and former World Poetry Slam Champion (2010). He is the 2024 inaugural Spoken Word Poet award winner from the League of Canadian Poets and the 2016 Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

His work has taken him around the world and has been translated into multiple languages.
Keteku’s work is strongly influenced by journeys throughout Africa. His work follows in the lineage of ancient African storytellers by paying homage to the past and revisiting themes and lessons from previous generations.

He's released two spoken word albums: Lessons From Planet Earth (2011) and Love and Lumumba (2015). His debut poetry collection, Black Abacus, is published by Write Bloody North.

Keteku teaches art-activism and creative writing at OCAD University in Toronto.

Keteku’s art extends beyond poetry, as a writer and director, where he produces thought-provoking films and empowers people of all ages to embrace the power of their own voices. He has written and directed projects for the NFB, TVO, CBC, PBS and Sesame Street.

As a writer and director, Keteku creates projects that centre African storytelling, speculative futures, and diasporic narratives.

Keteku is a royal chief of the indigenous town of Abiriw located in Ghana, West Africa.