Events Schedule

It’s Food Matters + the annual Brunch of Writers rolled into one online potluck! Host Jennifer Cockrall-King leads the way with contributors to Beyond the Food Court Luciana Erregue and Mila Bongco-Philipzig.

Authors & Presenters

Jennifer Cockrall-King    Luciana Erregue-Sacchi    Mary Berg    Mila Bongco-Philipzig

A one-on-one conversation with author Amanda Leduc (Disfigured: On Fairy Stories, Disability, and Making Space) and poet Brandon Wint (Divine Animal).

Authors & Presenters

Amanda Leduc    Brandon Wint

If “the poem does not start until you start to tell the truth” then a poet’s work is to be relentless in the search for that truth both on and off the page. This workshop is an excavation into the bone, into the truth, to write poems from the depth of our personal experiences. Through a series of writing exercises and discussion, the workshop will ask, “Who am I?”, “What do I want to say?”, “Why does my story matter?” and “What is my responsibility to myself and to the audience in telling my story?”

To maintain accessibility for all audiences, a limited number of free or by-donation tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis through our Community Access Ticket Program. If you have any questions about this program, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at outreach@litfestalberta.org.

In collaboration with Edmonton Poetry Festival.

Authors & Presenters

Nisha Patel    Titilope Sonuga

Are you fascinated by poetry, languages, and art? Are you curious to witness Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization through creative self-expression? Then please join us for The Polyglot’s launch of our double issue—nimitêyaniy and nitêh. These issues were curated by Naomi McIlwraith and Dorothy Thunder, and feature 36 brilliant Indigenous poets and artists. This launch showcases sixteen of our contributors read their poems or talk about their art, weaving their insights on language, culture, and Indigenous identities. The Polyglot would like to acknowledge and deeply thank the Edmonton Arts Council for their support and funding of this project. A special mahsi cho to the Edmonton Poetry Festival for supporting us with this launch. The covers of the issues feature art by Lana Whiskeyjack (nimitêyaniy) and Jade Roberts (nitêh). The words of the issues correspond to tongue and heart in nêhiyawêwin (Cree).

Authors & Presenters

Antoine Mountain    Corinne Riedel    Daniel Poitras    Dorothy Thunder    Francine Merasty    Jade Roberts    Jennifer Reeser    Karrie Auger    Lana Whiskeyjack    Naomi McIlwraith    Randy Morin    S. Giroux    Saltwater Hank    Stan Nochasak    Tamara (Baldhead) Pearl    Zoë Johnson

Co-curated by LitFest and Edmonton Poetry Festival, this year’s Nonfiction Slam will feature prose stories and poetry entries. 4 stories, 4 poems, one winner. All glory. Grab a beverage and join in to be part of the live audience that votes for winner!

Authors & Presenters

Amina Mohamed    K'alii    Liam Coady    Namitha Rathinappillai    Wendy McGrath

Jordan Abel is a multimedia artist with roots in exploring colonization through textual and poetic interpretation. His work encompasses multifaceted research and presents an intense, calculated and human look at the conditions of living in a colonial state. His works weave a technical mastery of elements and story, provoking us to think about how we read and what we’re reading. His new work, out soon, is again defiant of a single genre. Join us in this reading and Q and A, hosted by Matthew James Weigel.

Authors & Presenters

Jordan Abel    Matthew Weigel

Join us in meeting Ian Keteku, spoken word poet, musician, and artist, with a look into his celebrated body of work, his new book and latest album, and an immersive Q and A about his process of writing, his history as an artist, and where he is headed next. Ian’s work is transcendent, defying the boundaries of single disciplines and genres, and asking listeners to lean in and embrace art for all it has to offer. This event is not to be missed for fans of sound, words, and music. Hosted by Edmonton Poet Laureate, Nisha Patel.

Authors & Presenters

Ian Keteku    Nisha Patel

Three panelists with memoirs on incredible resilience, and finding your identity amid challenges of all kinds. Panelists include Helen Knott, David A. Robertson and Christa Couture.

Authors & Presenters

Christa Couture    David A. Robertson    Emily Riddle    Helen Knott

To kick off the festival in virtual space, the contributors to Beyond the Food Court —all writers from diverse ethnic backgrounds that call Edmonton home — gather to celebrate the launch of their anthology, along with editor and publisher Luciana Erregue.

Authors & Presenters

Adriana Oniță    Ana Ruiz Aguirre    Anna Marie Sewell    Asma Sayed    Leilei Chen    Luciana Erregue-Sacchi    Maitham Salman    Marco Melfi    Mila Bongco-Philipzig    Peter Midgley    Shimelis Gebremichael    Tazeen Hasan    Yasser Abdellatif