2024 Festival

Ariel Gordon(she/her) is a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory–based writer, editor and enthusiast. She is the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival that appears in the Winnipeg Free Press. Her previous work of nonfiction,Treed: Walking in Canada’s Urban Forests, was shortlisted for the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. She has five collections of poetry with the latest Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest (Wolsak & Wynn, 2024).

CHARLIE ANGUS is a nationally recognized politician, author, and musician. He has published nine books and is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the Trillium Book Award finalist Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower. Angus has served in the Canadian Parliament for twenty years. He has earned a national reputation as a fierce fighter for social justice and Indigenous rights. Angus was the founding member of Toronto punk band L’etranger. He is the leader of the roots band Grievous Angels; their ninth album is Last Call for Cinderella. Angus lives in Cobalt, Ontario, with his wife, author Brit Griffin. They have three daughters.

Danielle Daniel is a writer, an award-winning children’s book author and an illustrator. Like many Francophones with origins in Quebec, she shares an ancestral link to the people who inspired Daughters of the Deer, a first novel that springs from the story of what happened to the daughter of an Algonquin woman and a soldier/settler from France. Her picture books include Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and a Best 100 title at the New York Public Library) and You Hold Me Up, shortlisted for the 2018 Marilyn Baillie Award, among other honours. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and recently moved to Manitoulin Island with her family.

Hollay Ghadery: is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in rural Ontario on Anishinaabe land. Fuse, her acclaimed memoir of mixed-race identity and mental illness, (MiroLand, 2021) and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her debut collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, (Radiant Press, 2023). Hollay’s short-fiction collection, Widow Fantasies, is due out with Gordon Hill Press in 2024.

Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. She has published two chapbooks, You Must Imagine the Cold Here (Scrivener, 1997) and Fault Lines and Shatter Cones (Emergency Flash Mob Press, 2023), as well as five full books of poetry, including: braille on water (Penumbra Press, 2001), The Narcoleptic Madonna (Penumbra Press, 2012),

Some Other Sky (Black Moss Press, 2017), These Wings (Pedlar Press, 2019), and Emptying the Ocean (Frontenac House, 2022). Kim is the First Vice-Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada (2023-25), a full member of the League of Canadian Poets, and a supporting member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She was Poet Laureate for the City of Greater Sudbury from 2016-18.

Yvonne Blomer’s sixth book of poems is Death of Persephone: A Murder, a mystery based on the Persephone myth, the noir mystery genre and the ongoing violence to girls and women.  Previous books include The Last Show on Earth, 2022, which explores grief, love and climate change. She is an award-winning poet and nonfiction writer who has edited five anthologies, most recently: Hologram: Homage to PK Page. Yvonne holds an MA with Distinction from the University of East Anglia and is the past poet laureate of Victoria, BC.  She lives on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking people.

Alicia Elliott is a Mohawk writer and editor living in Brantford, Ontario. She has written for The Globe and Mail, CBC, Hazlitt, and many others. She’s had numerous essays nominated for National Magazine Awards, winning gold in 2017 and an honorable mention in 2020. Her short fiction was selected for The Best American Short Stories 2018, Best Canadian Stories 2018, and The Journey Prize Stories 30. Alicia was chosen by Tanya Talaga as the 2018 recipient of the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award. Her first book, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, was a national bestseller in Canada. It was also nominated for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and won the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award. Her first novel, AND THEN SHE FELL was a national bestseller, won the Indigenous Voices Award, won the Amazon First Novel Award, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was named a Globe and Mail and CBC Best Book of the Year.

Rod Carley is the award-winning author of three previous works of literary fiction (humour): Grin Reaping, Kinmount, and A Matter of Will.  He’s been  long-listed twice for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, received an IPPY Silver Medal for Best Regional Fiction, and was a Foreword Review INDIES Bronze Winner for Humour. His short stories and creative non-fiction have appeared in a variety of Canadian literary magazines. He was a finalist for the  Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Prize and the 2009 winner of TVO’s Big Ideas/Best Lecturer Competition and a proud alumnus of the Humber School for Writers. Rod has lived in Toronto, North Bay, and recently returned to his hometown of Brockville.

Jennifer Alicia (she/they) is a queer, mixed Mi’kmaw and settler (German/Irish/Scottish) multidisciplinary artist originally from Elmastukwek, Ktaqmkuk (Bay of Islands, Newfoundland), now residing in Toronto. She is a two-time national poetry slam champion and her work has been featured in Canthius Magazine, NOW Magazine, CBC and imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival to name a few. Jennifer Alicia co-edited a poetry anthology titled The Condor and the Eagle Meet and has a debut chapbook titled Mixed Emotions. Most recently, she participated in the Animikiig Creators Unit through Native Earth Performing Arts, working on her debut play titled To Go Home.

Alex Tétreault (he/him) is a bilingual theatre creator and queer community activist born and raised in N’Swakamok (Sudbury).

A graduate of Laurentian University’s now defunct French-language Theatre and Political Science programs, Alex has worked with groups and non-profits addressing several causes he deeply believes in. He’s volunteered on several Boards, including the Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury, Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury, and Fierté Sudbury Pride, the last of which he chaired from 2019 to 2021. He currently serves as President of Théâtre Action, an arts service organisation catering to Ontario’s francophone theatre community. 

Over the years, Alex and his words have appeared in several publications and have been performed on stages in Sudbury, Toronto, and Ottawa, as well as on Radio-Canada’s airwaves. In June 2023, Alex coproduced his first full-length independent theatre project, Nickel City Fifs, in collaboration with Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario. The play has since gone on to win several awards and is slated for publication in Fall 2024 by Éditions Prise de parole, as well as an upcoming tour across Ontario in Spring 2025.

In June 2024, Alex was named Greater Sudbury’s eighth Poet Laureate for a two-year term. He can often be read and heard in local media, notably as a columnist in Le Voyageur, where he speaks about social issues.

Barbara Adhiya is an independent Writer and Editor, and a Paralegal and Notary Public in Ontario. Her journalism career spanned over 20 years with The Canadian Press and Reuters. And she is on the board of Compassionate Eye, a Canadian Charity that raises funds by selling stock photography through Getty Images to support small sustainable projects around the world.

Sophie Anne Edwards (she/her/settler) lives on Mnidoo Mnising, Manitoulin Island, in Northeastern Ontario with her dog Bea and a roster of other WWOOfers who help in the garden. Her writing has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council and published by numerous journals and micropresses across Canada. She was shortlisted for the 2019 Arc Poetry Magazine poem of the year, and longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Sophie has an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, a Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College, and is a Ph.D. candidate in geography at Queen’s University.

KATE CAYLEY is the author of three poetry collections, including Lent, a young adult novel, and two short story collections. How You Were Born won the of the Trillium Book Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction. She has won the O. Henry Short Story Prize, the Mitchell Prize for Faith and Poetry, and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. She has been a finalist for the K. M. Hunter Award, the Carter V. Cooper Short Story Prize, and the Firecracker Award for Fiction, and longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the CBC Literary Prizes in both poetry and fiction. Cayley’s plays have been produced in Canada, the US and the UK, and she is a frequent collaborator with immersive company Zuppa Theatre. Cayley lives in Toronto with her wife and their three children.

Melanie Marttila has been writing since the age of seven, when she made her first submission to CBC’s “Pencil Box.” She is a graduate of the University of Windsor’s masters program in English Literature and Creative Writing and her poetry has appeared in Polar Borealis, Polar Starlight, and Sulphur. Her short fiction has appeared in Pulp Literature, On Spec, Pirating Pups, and Home for the Howlidays. She lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, in the house where three generations of her family have lived, on the street that bares her surname, with her spouse and their dog, Torvi.

Kelsey Borgford is a Nbisiing Nishnaabekwe from the Marten clan. She is an emerging author, passionate about utilizing writing as a tool to revitalize cultural connections. After losing her Gokomis-baa in 2014, Kelsey sought out a means of connection with her grandmother and found that connection to her through the arts. Kelsey’s work aims to pass along cultural traditions and identity. Her work is predominantly centered in the practice of beading and writing. She has a children’s book, What’s in a Bead, forthcoming from Second Story Press. In all aspects of her creativity, Kelsey draws inspiration from her culture, her mother, her community, and relatives in the natural world.

Kern Carter is the author of Boys and Girls Screaming, along with two self-published novels, Thoughts of a Fractured Soul (novella) and Beauty Scars. In addition to his writing, Kern is a filmmaker and also teaches professional writing at a local college, committed to supporting emerging writers and helping them find their voice. He lives in Toronto.

Louise Ells was born and raised in Northeastern Ontario. After years of travel, she moved to Cambridge and earned her PhD in Creative Writing. She was a Hawthornden Fellow in 2017 and published her short story collection, Notes Towards Recovery (Latitude 46), in 2019. Louise teaches at universities and colleges in England and Canada and lives just north of Toronto, where she can often be found in her library surrounded by books and snuggled up with her cats.

Heidi Reimer is a novelist and writing coach at Sarah Selecky Writing School. Her debut novel, The Mother Act, was published by Random House Canada/Dutton in April 2024, receiving a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a #1 spot on best books lists from People Magazine and Chatelaine. Heidi has published in The New Quarterly, LitHub, Chatelaine, and the anthologies The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood, Body & Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seekers, and Outcrops: Northeastern Ontario Short Stories. She is from Northern Ontario.

John Degen is a poet and novelist with three published books, and work in several anthologies. His debut novel, The Uninvited Guest, was shortlisted for the 2006 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. His essays and opinions have been published widely including in Publishers Weekly, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Hill Times, Canadian Notes and Queries, THIS Magazine, and the Literary Review of Canada. He has served on many boards and advisories in the literary and arts sector including terms as Chair of the Book & Periodical Council, THIS Magazine and the Canadian Creators’ Coalition. He holds a Masters Degree in Literature from the University of Toronto.

Degen has worked on behalf of other authors for the past twenty years. He is CEO of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), and Chair of the International Authors Forum (IAF) in the UK. He lives, works, and swims (six months of the year) in Northern Ontario.

Shana Calixte Pitawanakwat lives on the ancestral, traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinaabe, specifically in N’Swakamok, which means, “where the three roads meet” in Anishinaabemowin. This is Robinson-Huron treaty territory and is the homeplace of the Atikameksheng Anishinabek and the Wahnapitae First Nations.

Shana has held a variety of positions working in health equity, mental health and addictions, and supporting the health needs of various equity-seeking populations across northern Ontario. She has been an active community leader for over 25 years, at both the grassroots and governmental level, using her personal lived experience to energize her work and guide her passion. She has been fortunate to have been recognized for this work across local, regional and national spheres, receiving Fierté Sudbury Pride’s Golden Brick Award for Exemplary Activism, the Jack Layton Leadership Award, as well as being recognized by Canadian Living Magazine’s as one of 40 Women Change Makers.

In her spare time, she is a mom to 4 kids, she enjoys reading (of course! mostly sci-fi dystopian teen romance), crocheting and learning new and exciting things about living with and on the land thanks to her partner and her family-in-law who mostly live in Wiikwemkoong on what is now called Manitoulin Island.

Liisa Kovala is a Finnish Canadian author and certified Author Accelerator book coach. Her debut novel, Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46) was released in 2022. Her first book, Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate (Latitude 46, 2017), was shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award and published in Finland under the title Stutthofin selviytyjä (Docendo, 2020). Her work is inspired by her Finnish heritage and the northern landscape she calls home. She lives in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Learn more at liisakovala.com and liisakovalabookcoach.com.

Jonathan Pinto is the host of CBC Thunder Bay and CBC Sudbury’s afternoon radio show on CBC Radio One, Up North.

Born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Jonathan fell in love with CBC Radio at the age of 14 while listening to CBC Toronto’s Here and Now. He appreciated how the accents and stories reflected his own parents, who are from India.

Over the last ten years with CBC, Jonathan has maintained an unwavering commitment to truth, accuracy and accountability. He has designed extensive online candidate guides to keep voters informed during municipal elections, and even climbed aboard a fishing boat to report on Canada’s largest freshwater fishery.

He started his career as a producer at CBC Toronto, and most recently was a reporter and guest host at CBC Windsor and CBC London’s Afternoon Drive. He also has a Masters in Urban Planning and a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies.

When Jonathan isn’t caring for his infant daughter, you can find him browsing local markets, sampling beloved eateries or cooking at home. He’s a self-professed food lover and is open to all must-try suggestions!

Markus Schwabe got his start with CBC Radio as an intern while attending the School of Journalism and Communications at the University of Regina. After graduating, and working a short stint at Gemini News Service in London, England, he moved back to his hometown of Regina to work for CBC Radio as a part time researcher. The north called and Markus answered, working for CBC Radio in Northern Saskatchewan (LaRonge), Northern British Columbia (Prince George) and since 1996, Northern Ontario (Sudbury, which is the farthest south he’s ever lived).

Markus enjoys the mornings, meeting people and sharing stories with listeners across the region. Since they bought a minivan in 2000, he and his wife have logged more than a quarter million kilometres shuttling their four children to school events, arts rehearsals, sports practices and cultural events.

Randall Perry is an independent writer and editor living in Toronto, Ontario. He holds a
Certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor of Arts
from the University of Prince Edward Island. He served as administrative judge and
anthology editor for the final three years of the Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction
Competition as well as the 2023 Nona MacDonald Heaslip Short Story Prize. His fiction
has appeared in Islandside and On the Run magazines, and in the anthologies Fear
from a Small Place and Storgy 2019. His non-fiction essays, columns, and reviews have
appeared in Wayves, The ARC Quarterly, Outlooks, and fab.