Sashoya Simpson is an award winning Afro-Jamaican cultural leader, writer, storyteller, theatre practitioner, audiobook narrator and children’s book author. Her artistic work embodies Caribbean folklore knowledge and cultural practices through theatre performance, visual and literary art. As a performer, she has appeared in Bleeders by d’bi.young anitafrika (Summerworks Festival, 2016) and Lukumi (Tarragon Theatre, 2017) to name a few. Her work has been published in Black Solo: Watah Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Monodrama Volumes 1, 2 & 3 as a playwright and in From The Root Zine as a storyteller/poet. Her voice work includes The Journey Prize Stories (Penguin Random House Canada, 2023), San Souci and Other Stories by Dionne Brand (Penguin Random House Canada, 2023) and The Love Booth and Other Plays (Gailey Road Productions, 2023). She founded The Walking Griot collective, which is dedicated to producing work centering on young Black audiences, with works inspired by Afro-Caribbean folklore and cultural practices. Her play, LULU, was recently awarded a Patron's Pick Award at the Toronto Fringe Festival (2025). Her first children’s picture book, The Instrument Maker, will be published in 2026 (Annick Press). She’s the award recipient of the ArtReach Pitch Contest (2016), Emerging Arts Finalist for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts (2017), Simminovitch Playwright Protege Finalist (2023), the inaugural Che Kothari Artist & Instigator Award recipient (2025) and a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prizes protege (2025). She’s currently the Associate Artistic Director of the Watah Theatre and the Black Theatre School.