2022 Headliners

Gavin Bradley is an Irish writer, musician, and paleontologist, from Belfast, living in Edmonton, on Treaty 6 territory. Some of his poems can be found in The Irish Times, The North, and Funicular Magazine. His debut poetry collection, Separation Anxiety won the Bridges of Struga International Poetry Award 2023, and his poem Brine won the first Edmonton PoFest Poetry Prize. His plays Seanchaí and The Vote were performed at the Stagestruck and Springboards festivals this year, and he is currently working on his second poetry collection.

You can follow him on Instagram @gavinbradleywrites or at gavinbradleywrites.ca 

Michelle Poirier Brown is an internationally published writer and performer, currently living on the traditional unceeded territories of the syilx peoples, in Vernon, BC. She is nêhiýaw-iskwêw and a citizen of the Métis Nation. Her debut book of poetry, You Might Be Sorry You Read This, is forthcoming in the Robert Kroetsch Series from the University of Alberta Press in Spring 2022.

Michelle writes both poetry and prose. Her poem “Wake” won PRISM international’s Earle Birney Prize in 2019. Other poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Arc, CV2, Grain, The Greensboro Review, Emrys Journal, Plenitude, Right Hand Pointing, untethered, and Vallum; as well as several chapbooks and anthologies. The song cycle, “The Length of a Day” (Jeffrey Ryan, composer), was commission by Pacific Opera Victoria in 2021. Her prose has appeared in The Malahat Review, Release Any Words Stuck Inside of You II and III, The Fieldstone Review, The Sun, and the anthology Dis(s)ent.

A feminist activist, Michelle was the first woman in Canada to win a court case establishing reasonable accommodation in the workplace for breastfeeding women. Now retired from a career as a professional writer and, later, conflict analyst and Federal Treaty Negotiator, she is giving voice to stories she has been sheltering for forty years. 

She continues to write about her research in Transylvania that was the focus of a Community Sabbatical Fellowship at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria, in 2017.

Her more personal work follows three major themes: Indigenous identity, queer identity, and speaking the unspeakable.

Jenna Butler is the author of three books of poetry and ten short collections with small presses. Butler teaches creative writing and eco-criticism at Red Deer College. In the summer, she and her husband live on a small organic farm near the historic Grizzly Trail in Alberta’s north country.

Jennifer Bowering Delisle’s collection of lyric essays, Micrographia (2023) won the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the Writers Guild of Alberta Memoir Award. She is also the author of Deriving, a collection of poetry (2021) and The Bosun Chair, a lyric family memoir (2017). A new collection of poetry, Stock, is forthcoming with Coach House Press in 2025. She is on the board of NeWest Press and lives in Edmonton on Treaty 6 territory.

Metis poet, writer, and Professor Marilyn Dumont teaches for the faculties of Arts and Native Studies at the University of Alberta and is proud of Metis family lines from her Mother’s – Vaness / Dufresne families and her father’s – Boudreau/Dumont families.

She was awarded the 2018 Lifetime Membership from the League of Canadian Poets for her contributions to poetry in Canada. In 2019, she received the University of Alberta Distinguished Alumni Award and the Alberta Lieutenant Governor’s Distinguished Artist Award, and in 2022 was Awarded the Alberta Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medal for public service.

Her four collections of poetry have won provincial or national awards:  A Really Good Brown Girl (1996); green girl dreams Mountains (2001); that tongued belonging (2007); The Pemmican Eaters (2015).  A fifth collection surrounding Indigenous history of Edmonton, called South Side of a Kinless River was published by Brick Books in 2024.

Norma Dunning is an Inuk professor, grandmother and writer. Her short story collection, Tainna (the unseen ons), received the Governor General’s Literary Awards for 2021. Annie Muktuk and Other Stories received the Danuta Gleed award in 2018. Dunning’s first collection of poetry, Eskimo Pie: a poetics of Inuit Identity, was released in 2020. Her second collection of poetry, Akia (the other side), will be published in July 2022. Kinauva? (what’s your name?), Dunning’s first work of nonfiction, will release in 2023. She lives in Edmonton.

Shima Aisha Robinson is an amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton) born student, community builder, poet and spoken word artist who embodies, with every literary and scholarly effort, the ancient meaning of her chosen pen name. Dwennimmen is the name of an ancient African Adinkra symbol, which means strength, humility, learning and wisdom. It is no surprise, then, that this veteran of the Alberta poetry community uses a searing intellect and dynamic precision-of-language to create poetry which ushers her readers and listeners toward greater understanding and poignant reflection.

For Shima Aisha Robinson aka Dwennimmen, poetry has long been a compass, a salve, an anchor and guiding light. She uses the potential and force of poetry to uncover the full range of her cerebral, linguistic and spiritual fortitude. This is why her every poem and performance testifies to an emerging power and wisdom, an authentic, deeply human potency which she hopes to pass on to listeners and poetry-lovers around the world.

She is the author of two books including HORN, 2016, Denseverse (self published), and Bellow, 2022, Glass House Press. She has worked, advocated, and represented our community as Artistic Producer for the Edmonton Poetry Festival Society from 2022-23 Festival Society, founder and curator of the WORD*LAB spoken word series, Learning and Outreach Manager for Fringe Theatre Adventures, and not least-of-all is also the The City Of Edmonton’s 10th Poet Laureate.

You can learn more on her website.

Hannah Gelderman (she/her) is a settler of Dutch descent living in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB). She is an artist, educator and organizer who is most energized by projects that come to life at the intersection of visual arts and climate justice.

Katherine Gibson received her MLIS from McGill University in Montreal before working at the Richmond Public Library in British Columbia, Canada. After a year and half there she took up teaching English in Japan and finally settled down at the Edmonton Public Library in 2010. Katherine leads Capital City Press, EPL’s initiative to support local writers.

She is a member of the Edmonton Poetry Festival Board.

V. Guzman, V, B , AUNTE V is a disabled Non Binary Salvadoran Canadian artist, visionary and organizer, a child of war refugees born and raised in Edmonton Alberta, Treaty 6 Territory . They are known as powerful, scary and intimidating organizer, they were a respected local visual artist in the last decades , specializing in acrylics for Nextfest, their last solo show was back in 2017 at the Aviary. In 2014, V got suckered into performing spoken word poetry and regretted ever since. They don’t call themselves a poet per-say, nor an MC but identify more so as a writer. Their bars are known for its lyricism, melodic rhymes, leaves you breathless sometimes shook. They sometimes write poetry , mostly for for themselves, sometimes for their friends and sometimes for enemies.

Rayanne Haines is an award-winning hybrid author and pushcart nominated poet, producer and podcaster. She is the author of Tell The Birds Your Body Is Not A Gun (Frontenac House), winner of the 2022 Stephan G. Stephansson, Alberta Literary Award for Poetry and shortlisted for both the BPAA Robert Kroetsch Award, and the ReLit Award. She’s also the author of the poetry collections The Stories in My Skin (2013), Stained with the Colours of Sunday Morning (Inanna, 2017), and now, What Kind of Daughter? (Frontenac House, 2024) a poetry and essay memoir exploring grief, identity, and gendered trauma. Rayanne served as the 2022 Writer in Residence for the Edmonton Region Federation of Libraries, is the recipient of an Edmonton Artist Trust Fund Award, host of the Crow Reads Podcast, President of the League of Canadian Poets, and an Assistant Professor at MacEwan University. She has been published in various anthologies and journals including the Globe and Mail, Minola Review, Fiddlehead, Grain, FreeFall, Prairie Fire and others.

Canadian writer Nancy Holmes has published six collections of poetry, most recently Arborophobia (University of Alberta Press). She is the editor of Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems. She is Associate Professor in Creative Writing at The University of British Columbia in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. With Denise Kenney, she established the Eco Art Incubator, an initiative which supports ecological art in the Okanagan Valley and with Dr. Cameron Cartiere she established an award-winning community-based art project about native pollinators called Border Free Bees. Nancy won the 2015 Robert Kroetsch National Teaching Award in Creative Writing for her innovative student project, Dig Your Neighbourhood, and The Malahat Review’s Constance Rooke Creative Non-Fiction award in 2017.

Indigenous poets sharing truths, making their voices heard, and coming together to build community strength.

Alexis Kienlen is a poet, journalist and novelist who lives on Treaty 6, Edmonton. She currently works as an agricultural journalist with Alberta Farmer newspaper. She is the author of 2 books of poetry, She dreams in Red and 13, and has also written a biography about a Sikh civil rights activist. Her first novel, Mad Cow, was released in April 2020, during the global pandemic.

Theresa Kishkan lives on the Sechelt Peninsula in British Columbia. She has published more than a dozen books, including poetry, fiction, and collections of essays.

Alice Major has published twelve collections of poetry, two novels for young adults, and an award-winning collection of essays about poetry and science. A former chair of the Edmonton Arts Council she was the City of Edmonton’s first poet laureate (2005 – 2007). During her tenure, she founded the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Alice went on to receive the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award in 2017 and an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Alberta in 2019.

You can visit her website at https://www.alicemajor.com 

Kim Mannix (she/her) is a journalist, poet and short fiction writer who lives and creates on Treaty Six territory in Sherwood Park, Alberta. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, Parkland Poets, League of Canadian Poets and its Parenting Poets Committee, and Vice President of the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Her first collection of poems, Confirm Humanity, is forthcoming with Wild Skies Press.

Lisa Martin is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Believing is not the Same as Being Saved (University of Alberta Press, 2017) and One crow sorrow (Brindle & Glass, 2008). Her latest chapbook, Typology (Anstruther Press, 2021), is a sonnet sequence in homage to the Myers-Briggs personality types.

Marco Melfi (he/him) joined the Edmonton Poetry Festival Board in 2019. He received The Fiddlehead’s 2021 Ralph Gustafson Prize and has had poems published in Arc Poetry Magazine, EVENT, The Literary Review of Canada, PRISM, The New Quarterly, and Prairie Fire. His debut poetry collection, Routine Maintenance, is forthcoming with Gaspereau Press. He lives in Edmonton on Treaty 6 Territory.

Peter Midgley is the author of several books of poetry, children’s literature, and plays. He lives in Edmonton.

For more info check out their website:
https://www.midgley.ca/

Catherine Owen, a “Vancouveritedmontonian”, is the author of seventeen collections of poetry and prose. Her latest collection, Moving to Delilah (Freehand Books, 2024) was recently longlisted for the Al and Eurithe Purdy prize. She lives in a 1905 house on Alberta Avenue with her four cats and works as an instructor at NAIT while running a poetry series called 94th Street Trobairitz and writing reviews for Alberta Views.

Follow on IG: mslyricspoetryoutlaws

Paul Pearson is the co-founding editor and chapbook designer for the Olive Reading Series. His poems have appeared in Descant and Event, and the anthology Writing the Land: Alberta Through Its Poets from House of Blue Skies. Raised in a mining town in the mountainous back-country of southeastern British Columbia, Paul has since relocated to Edmonton where he lives and writes with his wife and two children. Lunatic Engine is his debut collection.

Well I’m from New Orleans, I’ve been living in Canada for 26 years… I AM a proud father of four! Like Rumi, Hafiz, La La ded and many other mystical poets I AM a Lover supreme! For I Love all, I Love Life in all it’s glorious infinite expression! I AM also a musician,songwriter and author. In a Word I AM always flowing growing and glowing in Love!

Poets show solidarity with brave Ukrainians as they fight for their freedom and the freedom of all world citizens.

Jason Purcell is a writer and musician living on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, Alberta, where they are co-owner of Glass Bookshop. They hold a MA in English from the University of Alberta. Swollening is their first book.

Shazia Hafiz Ramji’s fiction was shortlisted for the Malahat Review’s 2022 Open Season Awards. Her poetry was shortlisted for the 2021 National Magazine Awards and the 2021 Mitchell Prize for Faith and Poetry. Shazia’s award-winning first book is Port of Being. She lives in Calgary and Vancouver where she is at work on a novel and some tunes.

Emily Riddle (Okimâw Pipikwan Iskwêw) is Nehiyaw and a member of the Alexander First Nation (Kipohtakaw). She is a writer, textile artist, and policy iskwew based in Amisko Waciw Wâskahikan (Edmonton, Canada). In 2022, she released her first full length poetry collection, The Big Melt which won the Griffin Poetry Prize Canadian first book award. Her writing has been published in The Malahat Review, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, among others. Emily Riddle is a dedicated Treaty 6 descendant and a semi-dedicated Edmonton Oilers fan.

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Sampler Café is a diverse community of beat smiths, sample sculptors, pad smashers and musical misfits that work together to promote unity through music and to share beat culture with the masses. From hosting open jam sessions, engaging the community through educational workshops, welcoming guest educators/performers or creating sample-heavy electronic music live as a team, Sampler Cafes approach is focused on opening up the portal of accessibility for newcomers and veterans alike to shape a space to exchange knowledge and new ideas in the art of the beat.

Anna Marie Sewell is an award-winning multi-genre writer and performer of Mi’gmaq/Anishinaabe/Polish descent living in Edmonton, Canada. Her artistic practice centres collaborative projects at the intersections of culture, language, and modality, including Ancestors & Elders, Reconciling Edmonton (which featured the first ever Round Dance at Edmonton’s City Hall), Braidings, Honour Songs, Heart of the Flower, Big Sky Theatre (theatre with urban Indigenous youth), and The PoemCatcher public art installation. A founding member of the Stroll of Poets, she has served as Edmonton’s 4th Poet Laureate (2011-2013) and MacEwan University’s 2019/20 Writer in Residence.

Connect to Anna Marie Sewell’s written work through prairiepomes.com, via her poetry collections Fifth World Drum (Frontenac House, 2009) and For the Changing Moon: Poems & Songs (Thistledown Press, 2018), via her debut novel, Humane (Stonehouse Publishing, 2020), or the sequel, Urbane (Stonehouse Publishing, 2023). Anna Marie was published in The Polyglot’s Issue 3, CanLit: Curating our Canons, and Issue 6: nimitêyaniy.

Kelly Shepherd’s third poetry collection, Dog and Moon, was published by Oskana Poetry & Poetics (URegina Press) in spring 2025. His second collection, Insomnia Bird (Thistledown, 2018) won the 2019 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize. Kelly has written eight chapbooks, most recently Sleep Is a Deep Pool (The Alfred Gustav Press, 2023), and he is a poetry editor for the environmental philosophy journal The Trumpeter. Originally from Smithers, BC, Kelly lives on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, and teaches in the English & Communications Department at NAIT. 

Titilope Sonuga is a poet who renders, both in verse and performance, a quality of rootedness and unflinching womanhood that extends beyond the bounds of a single poem or poetic performance. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014), and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has composed two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). Her work is expansive, reaching into the realm of theatre, television and advertising campaigns for global brands. She is the 9th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton.

Sublime Intervention Collective, also known as S.I.C., is an experimental and collaboration based group of young femme artists out of amiskwaciwáskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta). Starting as a passion project of young artists Lydia Leblanc and
MadJohn! Madden, S.I.C.’s goal has been to initiate connection between creatives within our community, and develop projects that bring together different mediums to explore the creative interaction that can take place across disciplines. S.I.C. has held multidisciplinary events independently as well as a part Next Fest and Edmonton Poetry Festival.

Ryan James Summers, aka ‘Some-Sum’, is an Indigenous songwriter/storyteller, spoken word poet, freestyle performance artist & emcee from Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.). 

‘Sum’ started writing at the age of 16 & began to freestyle whilst living on the streets of Edmonton at age 17. His submersion into hip-hop culture built the foundation of his ability to cypher; write poetry & experiment with lyricism. This enthusiastic devotion for ‘word smithing’ as an art form, has cultivated an adept ability to express with purpose, passion & power for intentional, conscious, culturally informed performances. His work covers anti-colonialism, Indigenous spirituality, the relationship between self & the world around us. Whilst making sure he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Grayson Thate (he/him) is a poet born in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton). He is currently studying heritage management, and hopes to go to law school in the near future. As a past Youth Poet Laureate, he has been passionate about poetry and how it brings people together for many years. With a background in policy and education, Grayson is excited to be on the Edmonton Poetry Festival board and work to connect people with poetry in ways that are innovative and accessible.

Tzadeka (TZA-deka) is Maigan van der Giessen, an Edmonton based emcee who has been pushing the boundaries of music since putting out her first tracks with hip hop collective Eshod ibn Wyza (2003). Maigan’s spicy vocals and intricate rhymes blend with long-time producer Marek Czuba’s masterful beat-making to create music that is distinct and fresh; with hints of jazz, punk, politics and the blues!

Accompanied by the wildly talented Murder Hornettes (Allison Ochoa and Kirsten Elliot), this unstoppable trio is burning up stages across the prairies with their harmonies and hot sauce!

For more information:

Website: tzadeka.com

Instagram: @tzadekavision

Facebook: REALTZADEKA

Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike is a Nigerian-born, Calgary-based poet, fiction writer, essayist, and literary journalist. He is the author of Double Wahala, Double Trouble; Wish Maker; and a co-editor of Wreaths for Wayfarers.

Matthew James Weigel is an award winning Dene and Métis artist and author born and raised in Edmonton. His visual art often represents the many relationships we have with our surroundings, while his scholarly focus hopes to reclaim archival histories. His debut book “Whitemud Walking” recently won the City of Edmonton Book Prize and he is currently finishing his PhD at the University of Alberta.