Editing by Thistle

Thistle Dunsmuir is a poet and performer whose work focuses on themes of identity, mental health and queerness. They write in a variety of styles, from spoken word to lyrical free verse, and enjoy poetry the most when it becomes a visceral expression of emotion.

As a spoken word artist, Thistle can be found performing at their local Tongues of Fire open mic, through the Victoria Poetry Project, where they have also performed as a feature poet. They were a finalist for the 2024 and 2025 Tongues of Fire annual slam competitions and performed at Victoria Pride Society’s Pride in the Word event in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

As a written poet, Thistle’s poetry has been published in literary magazines across North America. Their published work can be explored below:

Vagabond City Press, Issue 94, “Safety at the Knife’s Edge”

Vagabond City Press, Issue 107, “Bugs”

The Q&A Queerzine, Issue 7, “Snow Drops”

Queer Toronto Literary Magazine, The Gallery, “Becoming”, “Villain-Coded”, “Pigeons”

Sea and Cedar Magazine, Fall 2025, “Vanilla”

Eavesdrop Literary Magazine, Issue 5, “My Heart is a Battle Drum”

DarkWinter Literary Magazine, July 2026, “Metamorphosis”, “Elegy”

Dreamers Creative Writing, July 2026, “Incompletion”, “Do Not Give My Demons Any Credit”

Thistle is also currently in the process of releasing their first poetry chapbook.