A. Gregory Frankson

Greg Frankson, also known as Ritallin, is a spoken word artist, public speaker, writer and consultant based in Ottawa. He has performed his poetry on stage, radio and television and writes a column called "Young, Gifted and Black" for The Spectrum, Ottawa's Black community newspaper.

Originally from the east end Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Greg began performing and writing as a hip-hop artist at the age of twelve. He gradually transferred his love of wordplay and literary imagery to the poetic creativity of spoken word.

Greg holds Bachelor of Arts (in history) and Bachelor of Education degrees from Queen's University at Kingston, received in 1999. He is a former secondary school teacher and federal public servant.

Greg visits schools and community organizations across Canada to give motivational speeches, lead youth workshops on leadership, literacy and anti-racism, and to facilitate educational sessions on a variety of topics. Ritallin is also the director of the award-winning Capital Poetry Collective, organizers of Capital Slam, Ottawa's monthly poetry slam event.

Cerebral Stimualtion

Poetry meant for the page uses imagery and metaphor to speak its universal truths, while spoken word uses performance to captivate, animate and teach. Cerebral Stimulation showcases the gritty realities and emotional tableaux of that rarest of poets - one that shines as brightly on the page as on the stage. This premiere collection of works from one of Canada's emerging poetic talents, A. Gregory Frankson, is destined to become a hallmark of the next generation of African-Canadian literature.

Frankson's first book will stimulate more that just your mind; his poetry and rhymes ultimately reveal a passionate man seeking love of others and love of self. A successful debut. John Akpata, 2005 Ottawa Capital Slam champion