Kyle Tran Myhre (aka Guante) is a poet, performer, and educator based in Minneapolis. He’s been a member of two National Poetry Slam championship teams, contributed to a Grammy-winning album, performed at the United Nations, and visited countless colleges, festivals, and conferences, using spoken word as a doorway into critical dialogue and community-building.
Whether writing about men’s roles in ending gender-based violence, challenging dominant narratives related to race and racism, or just telling stories about the different jobs he’s had, Tran Myhre strives to cultivate a deeper engagement with the issues that impact our lives, one based in both empathy and agency. An educator as well as a performer, Tran Myhre completed his Master’s degree at the University of Minnesota with a focus on arts-based approaches to navigating challenging conversations—from education about healthy masculinity and consent, to first-year orientation programs, to youth leadership experiences, and beyond.
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“Why do you look/sound familiar?”
Here are five of the most common ways people find me or my work:
- Viral poems: My poem Ten Responses to the Phrase ‘Man Up’ went viral a few years back on Button Poetry’s channel. It got shared a lot on social media, racking up over a million views on YouTube and ten million more on Facebook. More recently, my poem about voting, To Throw a Wrench in the Blood Machine, took off on social media in a similar way. Finally, a smaller example but still kind of cool: my poem, When It Really Is Just the Wind, and Not a Furious Vexation, was the Academy of American Poet’s “Poem-A-Day” (curated by Danez Smith) on August 6, 2024.
- Fred Again collaborations: My voice is part of two songs from the Grammy-winning UK producer/musician Fred Again: Kyle (I Found You) and Berwyn (all that i got is you). The first is a sample from my poem, Love in the Time of Undeath, and the second is a piece of poetry I wrote specifically for that track (and that album won the 2024 Best Dance/Electronic Album Grammy). I appear via video when he plays these live (including the first song in his NPR Tiny Desk set).
- Big performances: For a super underground artist, I’ve had the opportunity to share my work on some big stages: from a surprise guest appearance during Fred Again’s tour stop at the Target Center, to festivals like Eaux Claires and Soundset, to the biggest protest in the history of Minnesota, (warming up the stage for Bruce Springsteen), to a ton of conferences, concerts, and other events. I’m rarely a headliner, but I’ve had the “where do I know you from?” conversation a million times.
- Quotes: Lots of people find my work via quotes (sometimes they’re even properly attributed):
- White supremacy is not a shark; it’s the water is a quote from a poem of mine called How to Explain White Supremacy to a White Supremacist, and while the poem itself has popped up in a lot of places, it’s that specific quote that gets shared the most—on social media, in workshops, and beyond. Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine opened one of his videos with it.
- There is no light at the end of this tunnel, so it’s a good thing we brought matches. Back in 2014, I was part of a side-project Hip Hop trio called Sifu Hotman, and our song Matches (though the link here is to a remix) struck a chord with a lot of people, eventually ending up as “the weather” on an episode of Welcome to Night Vale.
- Lots more of my quotes here.
- I could keep listing my goofy little brushes with virality and indie fame, but I think I’m most proud of how my work is used in spaces like first-year orientation programs, bystander intervention trainings, and other social justice ed workshops and classes. When people recognize me these days, it’s often because they experienced poems like Consent at 10,000 Feet or The Art of Taking the L in these kinds of spaces, where the point is not the poem itself, but the conversation that happens after listening.
The last thing I’ll add here is that I’ve also been a teaching artist for nearly 20 years, working in high schools, middle schools, and other educational spaces throughout MN and beyond… so yet another way people find my poetry is through working directly with me on their own poetry. More here.
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