ABOUT
FEATURE WRITER / COPY EDITOR / PROOFREADER / POET / SONGWRITER /
EXPRESSIVE ARTS FACILITATOR / EDITOR, MARKING HUMANITY: STORIES, POEMS, & ESSAYS BY HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Based in Toronto, Canada, Shlomit Kriger enjoys sprinkling inspiration, awareness, and healing through the arts. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Ryerson University and is passionate about making a positive difference in others’ lives.
Shlomit has covered dynamic and inspiring people and ventures for diverse news outlets and organizations. Her articles have appeared in such publications as This Magazine, Thornhill Liberal, Ryerson Alumni Magazine, Canadian Jewish News, Good News Toronto, and the Jewish Tribune and One80, for which she also served as staff reporter and editor respectively. She also crafted articles and press releases for groups and organizations such as the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, Ve’ahavta: The Canadian Humanitarian & Relief Organization, York Region Conservatory of Music, and Health as a Bridge to Peace at York University.
In 2005 Shlomit coordinated Ve’ahavta’s 6th Annual Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless. She organized and helped deliver creative writing workshops for homeless youth and adults at shelters and drop-in centres across the Greater Toronto Area and recruited notable volunteer judges, including former Thornhill Member of Parliament Susan Kadis and award-winning author Vivian Jeanette Kaplan. The contest garnered media coverage in several local newspapers, and she assisted in producing a zine featuring the winning entries that is available through Ve’ahavta. Theresa Schrader, the grand prize winner from that year, has since turned her life around and now inspires and empowers others. In 2011 Theresa coordinated the 10th annual contest, and Shlomit served as one of the judges.
As part of her volunteer work with Ve’ahavta, Shlomit founded and edited a magazine-style newsletter for the organization’s former Vaughan chapter. She has also enjoyed volunteering in roles such as life skills coach for girls through Future Possibilities for Kids, member of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services Conversation Café program to help newcomers practice speaking English, and research assistant and copywriter for a brochure on domestic abuse for Jewish Women International of Canada.
Having also crafted poetry, songs, and short stories since age nine, Shlomit weaves a literary kaleidoscope blending reality and illusion. Her creative pieces stretch readers’ emotions and imaginations, sometimes also pushing them to dive deeper into societal issues. She has shared some of her pieces at arts festivals held by Back Burner Productions and the That’s Women’s Work Arts Network, as well as at various open mic events in the Greater Toronto Area. A member of the York Region Arts Council, she also enjoys drawing and painting.
Inspired partly by her experience coordinating Ve’ahavta’s writing contest, Shlomit compiled and edited Marking Humanity: Stories, Poems, & Essays by Holocaust Survivors (Soul Inscriptions Press, 2010), featuring the photos, bios, and 70 writings of 46 survivors from six countries. Some of the survivors have joined her in giving presentations to various community groups. They aim to bring to light lessons from the Holocaust, the survivors, and the various acts of discrimination and violence that continue to afflict humanity in hopes of inspiring more initiatives, education, and awareness to help people create positive shifts in themselves and the world around them so that future generations can discover the true meaning of Never Again. The book has received local and international media coverage.
In 2010 Shlomit also earned a certificate in the Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy from ISIS Canada and two years later in the Artist-Educator Foundations course at The Royal Conservatory School. She continues to explore how the arts can be used to help people express themselves, become empowered, and heal.
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
- Abraham Lincoln
