Charlie Petch

Charlie Petch is a non-binary^[1] Canadian writer and performer from Toronto, Ontario,^[2] whose poetry collection Why I Was Late was the winner of the ReLit Award for Poetry in 2022.^[3]

Work

Principally a poet of spoken word, Petch was the founder of Hot Damn It's a Queer Slam and was Spoken Word Canada's poet of honour in 2017.^[4] They have also written and performed a number of theatrical plays, most notably Mel Malarkey Gets the Bum's Rush.^[2]

Why I Was Late is a 2021 poetry and biography collection by Petch that explores themes of queer love, loss, and survival. The book is a look at masculinity from the perspective of a transmasculine, disabled person who loves music, theater, and Star Wars.^[5][6] It won the 2022 ReLit Award for Poetry.^[3]

Awards

Honors

• 2017 Spoken Word Canada's poet of honour

Literary

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2022	Why I Was Late	ReLit Award	Poetry	Won	[3]

Bibliogr

Poetry collection

• Why I Was Late (2021)