WORDSTOCK LITERARY FESTIVAL
13th Edition
Oct. 16-17, 2026
Place des Arts du Grand Sudbury
Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival is thrilled to announce the dates of our 13th annual festival!
This year’s theme, The Words Between Us, celebrates the stories, conversations, and connections that bring us together. Join remarkable writers from Northern Ontario and across Canada for two days of readings, workshops, community activities, open mic events, and plenty of good conversation.
Whether you’re a writer, artist, reader, or simply looking to connect with your community, Wordstock Sudbury is for you.
We are deeply grateful to everyone helping make this year’s festival possible. Our Festival Committee and Board of Directors cannot wait to welcome you back.
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SCHEDULE
PRESENTERS
John Degen is a poet and novelist with four 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. His latest novel is Seldom Seen Road (Latitude 46 Publishing, May 2026).
He lives, works, and swims (six months of the year) on the north shore of Lake Huron.
Lauren Carter is the author of six books including her latest novel, The Longest Night, described as “mind-bending, psychologically disturbing, and utterly captivating” and named a 2025 Quill & Quire Notable Book. Her second novel, This Has Nothing To Do With You, won the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction from the Manitoba Book Awards while her short story collection Places Like These was a finalist for the 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Award and a Spring 2023 Globe and Mail pick. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and brings her passion for writing, adventure, and community to events organized through her business Wild Ground Writing Retreats. She has lived in Treaty One territory, iin St. Andrews, Manitoba, since 2017. Find out more at www.wildgroundwriting.com and www.laurencarter.ca
Kim Echlin is a Canadian novelist, translator, editor and teacher. She has written five novels. The Disappeared is translated into 20 languages and won the Barnes and Noble New Writing Award. Speak, Silence, about the International Criminal Court, won the City of Toronto Book award. Her coming novel is about the first poet in Mesopotamia to sign her own name to her poetry and to stand up against empire. Her nonfiction focuses on social justice, women’s voices and freedom of expression. She has won the CBC Nonfiction Award and the Dalton Camp Award. Her new collection of essays, Tell Others, reflects on literature and witness.
Kim is a board member of PEN International. All author proceeds from Tell Others are donated to PEN.
Maggie Helwig (they/she) is a white settler in Tkaronto/Toronto, and the author of seventeen books and chapbooks, including Girls Fall Down (Coach House Books 2008), which was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and chosen as the One Book Toronto in 2012; Encampment: Resistance, Grace and an Unhoused Community (Coach House Books, 2025), which won the 2025 Toronto Book Award and the 2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing; and most recently Instructions for the End of the World: Homilies of Comfort and Resistance (Coach House Books 2026). Helwig is an Anglican priest and social justice activist, and has been the rector of the Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields since 2013. |
CHARLIE PETCH (they/he) is a disabled & transmasculine multidisciplinary artist. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus. Petch received a Golden Beret Spoken Word Prize from the League of Canadian Poets. Their play “No one’s special at the hot dog cart” debuted in 2024 with sold out shows at Theatre Passe Muraille and Public Energy. Petch’s latest poetry book, “Infinite Audition” by Brick Books, was launched in 2025, and is being used both as a poetry book, and theatre resource for trans and non-binary actors. It also contains a full album of music created by Charlie. They founded “Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam” and have worked in spoken word organizing and curation since 2011. They do workshops and write plays, librettos, poems, and music and perform their work for audiences all over Turtle Island. |
Jessica Cunsolo’s young adult series, With Me, has amassed over 215 million reads on Wattpad since she posted her first story, She’s With Me, on the platform in 2015. It has been published in multiple languages and is in development with Wattpad WEBTOON studios. Jessica lives just outside of Toronto, where she enjoys the outdoors and transforming her real-life awkward situations into plotlines for her viral stories. |
Antonio Michael Downing is the author of the acclaimed memoir Saga Boy, called by Giller winner Ian Williams, “the triumph of Blackness everywhere.” Black Cherokee, his novel, was a finalist for the 2026 Amazon First Novel Award. He is also the host of the CBC Radio program The Next Chapter where he interviews readers and authors. He spends his time writing books, singing songs, and trying to make his grandma proud. |
Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of two mystery novels, MOONLIGHT MURDER (2026) and DETECTIVE AUNTY (2025), featuring Kausar Khan, a South Asian Miss Marple, as well as six romance novels, including AYESHA AT LAST, inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and THREE HOLIDAYS AND A WEDDING (2023), a multi-faith holiday romcom co-written with Marissa Stapley, which was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick. Many of her books have been optioned for film and television, and her work has appeared on ‘Best of’ lists in the Globe and Mail, Publisher’s Weekly, and the Washington Post. A popular and prolific public speaker, Uzma had her first play, THE RISHTA, produced in Montreal in 2023. Uzma is a former contributor to The Toronto Star, and has written for The Atlantic. She lives outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two sons, where she also teaches high school. |
Matthew D. Del Papa: Born and raised in Capreol, Ontario Matthew D. Del Papa didn’t learn to love reading at a young age. In fact, he didn’t learn much of anything when young. It wasn’t until high school that he discovered Science Fiction & Fantasy and that was mostly due to the lack of girls at the all-boy Catholic institution. University opened his eyes — in more ways than one — and widened both his horizons and his waistline. The inability to do simple math meant it took him five years to earn a 4-year degree in English Literature at Laurentian University and then, rather than find a ‘real’ job, Matthew followed it up with an MA in Humanities. After that he fell into the trap which awaits most Arts majors — unemployment and the delusion of literary talent. Since that time, he has read voraciously, written occasionally, and worked hard at convincing his family that struggling writers are supposed to live rent-free in the basement. All with mixed success. A member of the Sudbury Writers’ Guild, Matthew has been featured in local newspapers and websites, co-authored a sold-out fundraising novella for charity, self-published more than a dozen hyper-local titles—the latest being Danni Fundy: Occult Babysitter (2025), cowritten with Emily Andrews—and contributed to Spooky Sudbury: True Tales of the Eerie & Unexplained (Dundurn Press, 2014), the Aurora Award-winning Nothing Without Us Too (Renaissance Press, 2022), MIGHTY: An Anthology of Disabled Superheroes (Renaissance Press, 2023), Sudbury Superstack: A Changing Skyline (2024) and SWG: Unearthed (2026). He co-edited SUPERCANUCKS: An Anthology of Canadian Small-town Superheroes (Latitude 46 Publishing, 2026) alongside Andy W. Taylor. People told him that a semi-autobiographical collection of humorous essays focusing on disability was a terrible idea but he wrote JERRY LEWIS TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO DIE (Latitude 46 Publishing, 2023) regardless. Judging by the anemic sales figures, they were right. Matthew is busy working on a sequel anyway. |
Adam Mardero has been fascinated by the stars for as long as he can remember, and over the years it has led him to develop a deep appreciation for astronomy and science fiction. As a child, he fell in love with the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek and other works of popular sci fi – both out of a sense of wonder, and for the inclusive values they often put forward. This love, in turn, inspired him to become a fiercely outspoken advocate for the rights of LGBTQ and neurodivergent people, among his many other causes. He has always admired the ability of science fiction to change the world for the better, and his work represents his earnest attempt to do the same. Adam lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. His previous book, Uncommon Sense: an Autistic Journey, was published in 2021 by Latitude 46 Publishing. |
Roger Dallaire: Born in St‑Paul, in northeastern Alberta’s francophone community, Roger Dallaire is a musician and storyteller who brings a vibrant, lived approach to francophone traditions. Trained in physical theatre in Toronto, he has performed in over twenty stage productions and written and directed numerous works. He has toured extensively across Western Canada, notably with Daniel Gervais as part of the duo Tradbadours. Deeply rooted in Alberta’s francophone cultural life, he has been a key contributor for over a decade to the winter festival Flying Canoë Volant in Edmonton and continues to share performances celebrating francophone heritage in schools across the province.Since 2025, the barn located on her property, Le P’tit Bonheur, has been part of the ÉCONOMUSÉE® network as a Heritage Space dedicated to storytelling. |
Tamsin Sheridan is a film industry professional and screenwriter. Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario she was part of the inaugural class of the Performing Arts program at Sudbury Secondary School. Currently, she is at work on her sixth novel, a fantasy rom-com with a murder mystery sub-plot. |
Blaine Thornton is a non-binary community-based artist and founder of Mooncrater Theatre in Sudbury, Ontario. They are a typewriter poet, book binder, theatre maker, and installation artist. They are a graduate of Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U), and the recipient of the 2023 Creative Writing Medal. Their book, Here’s to Letting Go, weaves through memories of the street and what it means to be Home.They were the managing editor for the first edition of Pulse Literary Journal (2022). Their work has been published in Pulse Literary Journal (2023 & 2024) and A Thousand Tiny Awakenings (Latitude 46, 2025). Their installations have been exhibited at Up Here Music Festival (2024), Sudbury Nuit Blanche (2024), Sudbury Indie Cinema (2024), OCAD U (2023) |
Scott Overton: A radio broadcaster for more than thirty years, Scott Overton described that world in his first novel, the mystery/thriller Dead Air, published by Scrivener Press. Dead Air was shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award in Ontario. But the rest of his writing is science fiction and fantasy, comprising seven novels and one collection of short fiction. His short stories have also been published in numerous magazines and anthologies across North America.
Now a freelance author and voice talent, Scott works from his home on a lake in Northern Ontario.
Holly is an author, podcaster, and proud resident of Chelmsford Ontario town where the snow falls sideways and the dogs run the show. Holly has a knack for turning life’s heaviest stuff — grief, healing, starting over — into stories that somehow still make you smile, mostly thanks to the rescue dogs trotting through every page, muddy paws and all. |
Liisa Kovala is an award-winning Finnish-Canadian author, Author Accelerator certified fiction and memoir book coach, and host of the Women Writing podcast. She is the author of Like Water for Weary Souls (House of Karhu, 2025), Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46, 2022) and Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate (Latitude 46, 2017). She also writes the Hygge House Nordic Cozy Mystery series under the pen name A. L. Jensen. Liisa is inspired by her Finnish heritage and the northern landscape she calls home. Learn more about Liisa at liisakovalabookcoach.com and subscribe to liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com. |
Matthew Heiti: Born in this crater, Matthew is a writer and teacher. His first novel, The City Still Breathing (Coach House Books) was awarded a place in Project Bookmark, and the follow-up, One Soft Infested Summer, has just been published with Latitude 46. His next book, The Imp, will be published with Thistledown Press in 2027. Additionally, his short stories have won distinctions, including the Carter V. Cooper Emerging Writer award and Grain Magazine’s short fiction prize. As a theatre maker, his plays have been produced with festivals and theatres across Canada, including, in Sudbury, Mucking in the Drift (STC), Aéroportée (Le TNO), and Receiver of Wreck (Pat the Dog). His play for teens, Black Dog: 4 vs the wrld, is published by Playwrights Canada Press.
Since 2016, he has taught theatre and creative writing at Laurentian University. In his spare time, he is usually working.
Lindsay Mayhew is an interdisciplinary spoken word poet from Sudbury, Ontario. She and Connor Lafortune are the co-editors of A Thousand Tiny Awakenings (Latitude 46 Publishing, 2025). Lindsay is the runner up of the 2026 Spoken Word Award by the League of Canadian Poets. She has performed on stages across North America, including in Baltimore, Vancouver, Montreal, and across Ontario. Lindsay is also a seasoned slam competitor, placing as a runner up in the 2025 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. Her work has appeared in The Literary Review of Canada, Prairie Fire, Orbital Studies Magazine, Button Poetry, and more. |
Connor Lafortune is a queer Anishinaabek storyteller from Dokis First Nation. He uses his understanding of the world to shape his creations as a writer, poet, and performer. His words merge academic thought with poetic prose to name the historical boundaries of Indigenous joy while building the world he hopes to experience. In 2023, he released a single with G.R. Gritt titled Qui crie au loup? In 2025, he co-released A Thousand Tiny Awakenings, a youth anthology and Can You Feel It Now? a poetic short film on Black and Indigenous resilience. Visit nmkns.ca for more information.
Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury. Her most recent books include The Pollination Field (Turnstone Press, 2025) and The Donoghue Girl (Latitude 46, 2024). Kim is the Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) and a past Poet Laureate for The City of Greater Sudbury (2016-18). She won 2nd place in the 2025 Northwestern Ontario Writers’ Workshop Essay Contest, 1st place for The Ampersand Review’s 2024 Essay Contest, and was shortlisted for the The Fiddlehead’s 2023 Ralph Gustafson Poetry Contest. She may be reached via her author website at www.kimfahner.com
Victoria Brock is a local performing artist who has worked on and off with YES Theatre since 2011, is a core member of the “Sudbury Burlesque” troupe, has played in local bands, teaches at Pole Camp and is the owner of Please Cheeze Me. Most recently she has co-founded House of Fae Events to bring romantasy readers together and create more magic here in Sudbury! She’s a slow reader who appreciates a slow burn.
Delaney Gervais is the owner of Evermore Cafe & Bookshop, a lifelong avid reader with nearly 15 years of experience in customer service.
After years of dreaming, planning, and preparing, she decided to bring her vision of a cozy, welcoming community space to life. Evermore will offer a simple café menu, a large selection of new and used romance novels, and a dedicated space to showcase local artisans.
At the heart of Evermore is a love of books, creativity, community, and supporting local.
Alexia Cousineau (she/her) is a queer franco-Ontarian multidisciplinary artist and poet from Timmins, Ontario. She has won various slam competitions in Ontario including Wordstock Sudbury and Guelph and been a finalist in Toronto’s Poetry Slam. Alexia is the editor of Local Matter: an anthology of poetry (Anaphore, 2026). Her written work is featured in The Literary Review of Canada, Sulphur Literary Journal, Alocasia as well as many local zines in Sudbury. Alexia is the creative director of Anaphore, an artist-led initiative creating opportunities for emerging voices and interdisciplinary collaboration in the Sudbury community.
Tyler Pennock, author of Bones (2020), and Blood (2022) is a two-spirit adoptee queerdo from Faust, Alberta, and is a member of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. They teach in the Centre for Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto and were the Inaugural Indigenous FASS Artist-in-Residence at Carleton University (2023). Their third book, Skin (Brick Books) will be released on October 6th
Jessica Pope is a former staff journalist with CBC News in Sudbury. She still covers stories from across northeastern Ontario as a producer, reporter and current affairs radio host. She holds degrees in English Literature (University of Ottawa, ’06) and Journalism (University of King’s College, ’10), and enjoyed a brief academic foray into midwifery. Her favourite authors are David Adams Richards, Miriam Toews and Claire Keegan. When they were handing out luck in life, Jess got seconds.
Alex Tétreault (he/him) is a bilingual theatre creator, writer, and arts advocate born and raised in N’Swakamok (Sudbury). A graduate of Laurentian University’s now defunct French-Language Theatre program, he’s been heavily involved in Greater Sudbury’s and Ontario’s francophone arts and culture sector for the better part of a decade.
His first play, Nickel City Fifs (2024, Éditions Prise de parole) was a finalist for a number of literary awards, including the Prix Champlain and Prix Trillium, winning a Prix Émergence from the Association des auteures et auteurs de l’Ontario français (AAOF).
In addition to currently serving as the City of Greater Sudbury’s Poet Laureate, Alex has recently become the Executive and Artistic Director of the Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury.
Elizabeth Urso is a graduate of Laurentian University, the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law, and the Humber School for Writers. Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, she now lives wherever her partner—an Infantry Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces—is posted, along with their dog Harriet (the Spy). Hail Mary is her debut novel.
Jonathan Pinto is the host of Up North, CBC Radio One’s regional afternoon show for northern Ontario and is based in Sudbury. He was formerly a reporter and an associate producer at CBC Windsor & CBC Toronto.
