GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ’s novels The Cure for Death by Lightning and A Recipe for Bees were both short-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her thrillers The Almost Wife and The Almost Widow were national bestsellers. Gail also writes hi-lo books for the educational market. She taught for nearly a decade in the CW MFA program at UBC, and now mentors writers online. For more, or to check out her mentoring and editing services, see her website: gailanderson-dargatz.ca

Tuesday May 28th

11:00 am Crossing Genres to Add New Life to Your Craft

BILL ARNOTT is the bestselling author of A Perfect Day for a Walk, A Season on Vancouver Island, the Gone Viking travelogues (Gone Viking: A Travel Saga, Gone Viking II: Beyond Boundaries, Gone Viking III: The Holy Grail), and other books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. He’s been awarded for prose, poetry, songwriting, and for his expeditions received a Fellowship at London’s Royal Geographical Society. Bill’s a past director on numerous boards, frequent guest speaker and host, university lecturer, and contributing editor at Canada’s The Miramichi Reader and Australia’s Stereo Stories. Bill gives countless presentations and interviews for radio, TV, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, literary groups and festivals, and his column Bill Arnott’s Beat appears in magazines around the globe. When not trekking with a small pack and journal, armed with his laughably outdated camera phone, or showing off cooking skills as a culinary school dropout, Bill can be found on Canada’s west coast, where he lives near the sea on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh land. Find Bill online @billarnott_aps or with his #GoneVikingCommunity.

Saturday June 1st

2:00 pm Gone Writing: Travel Writing (temporary title)

TARA AVERY is a writer, editor, and writing coach. After graduating from UBC with a BFA in Theatre, Film, and Creative Writing, she spent many years living abroad—AKA, collecting material for future writing. Tara believes words have the power to unite, entertain, and teach us. Mostly, she's just thrilled she's achieved her childhood dream of working with them for a living.

Saturday June 1st

7:00 pm Live Editing Session featuring Editors BC

TANYA BOTEJU lives on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, BC). Part-time, she teaches English to clever and sassy young people. The rest of her time, she uses writing as an excuse to eat pastries. Her debut novel, Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens, was named a Top Ten Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. Her second novel, Bruised, is a Gold Standard book with the Junior Library Guild. Look for Messy Perfect in 2025. In both teaching and writing, Tanya hopes she’s bending the universe even the tiniest bit toward justice

Tuesday May 28th

2:00 pm "Writing Diversity": Can We Be Frank?

JOSEPH A. DANDARAND is a member of Kwantlen First Nation located on the Fraser River. He resides there with his 3 children Danessa, Marlysse, and Jace. Joseph is the Director of the Kwantlen Cultural Center. Joseph received a Diploma in Performing Arts from Algonquin College and studied Theatre and Direction at the University of Ottawa. He has been the Storyteller in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library. He has published 13 books of poetry and the latest are: I WANT by Leaf Press (2015) and HEAR AND FORETELL by BookLand Press (2015) The Rumour (2018) by BookLand Press in (2018) SH:LAM (the doctor) Mawenzi Press (2019) The Corrupted by Guernica Press (2020) his children’s play: Th’owixiya: the hungry Feast dish by Playwrights Press Canada (2019) his children’s books: The Sasquatch, the fire, and the cedar basket (2020) and The Magical Sturgeon (2022) published by Nightwood Press along with his poetry manuscript: The Punishment (2022) He also is very busy Storytelling at many events and Schools.

Friday May 31st

7:00 pm Storytelling

A.J. DEVLIN grew up in Greater Vancouver before moving to Southern California where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from Chapman University and a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. After working as a screenwriter in Hollywood, he moved back to Port Moody, BC, where he now lives with his family.

Thursday May 30th

11:00 am Comedy & Crime: Crafting Humour Amidst Murder and Mayhem

DR. RUTH DYCKFEHDERAU has written three books. I (Athena) was released by NeWest Press in April, 2023. Enâtamukw miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree, Volume One, nonfiction, written with James Bay Cree storytellers, was released in March, 2023. The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree (2017), nonfiction, also written with James Bay Cree storytellers, is now in Second Edition (2020) and is being translated into five languages. Ruth sometimes teaches Creative Writing and English Lit at the University of Alberta where she is an Adjunct Professor. She has received many awards for writing and for teaching, and a few for activism. She lives in Edmonton with her partner. She is hearing-impaired.

Sunday June 2nd

2:00 pm What Queer Fiction Techniques Offer All Prose Writers

GRACE P. FONG is a narrative designer, writer, and illustrator. She has designed worlds for games of many types, including Palia and Magic: The Gathering. Her short fiction and art have been published in Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, and Tor.com and has been recognized by Levar Burton Reads, the Ignyte, and the Hugo Awards.

Wednesday May 29th

11:00 am Fantasy Worldbuilding

KYLE HAWKE is a poet, voice artist, and editor. Through his various interactions with words, he knows how they can change the world and wants to give them the platform to do so. whispers of humanity, Kyle’s first collection of poetry in book form, juxtaposed with the art of Wade Edwards, was launched at the start of the pandemic. He claims no causal relationship. He lives in Vancouver, BC.

Saturday June 1st

7:00 pm Live Editing Session featuring Editors BC

CORNELIA HOOGLAND, recipient of the 2023 Colleen Thibaudeau Award for Excellence in Poetry from the League of Canadian Poets, has published 8 poetry collections. She recently completed her first novel, 'Atmospheric River,' and a graphic novel inspired by the fairy tale, Red Riding Hood. Notably, her works 'Trailer Park Elegy' and 'Woods Wolf Girl' were finalists for prestigious Canadian poetry awards. Her latest release, a collaboration with Ted Goodden, is 'Cosmic Bowling.' Hoogland was the writer-in-residence for the Al Purdy A-Frame and the Whistler Festival, and calls Hornby Island home.

Wednesday May 29th

2:00 pm Poetry: Sure, Every Photograph's an Elegy

JENNIFER LANDELS (she/they) is the Managing Editor of Pulp Literature. She holds a BA in Mediaeval English Literature from UBC and may some day return to her doctorate in Arthurian Romance at University College London. She has been a freelance editor since 2002, and co-founded Pulp Literature Press in 2013. She is a frequent lecturer, blue penciller, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator at writing events and has travelled to France, Germany, the UK, and the US to speak and teach at conferences. In addition to her literary activities she also teaches swordplay from horseback as head of Academie Cavallo at Cornwall Ridge Farm in Langley BC. She writes fantasy and historical fiction as JM Landels, and her fantasy trilogy Allaigna's Song can be found in most bookstores.

Thursday May 30th

2:00 pm Pitching Fantasy

SHELLEY A. LEEDAHL is a multi-genre writer and book reviewer in Ladysmith, BC. Recent titles include Go (poetry, Radiant Press), The Moon Watched It All (illustrated, Red Deer Press), Listen, Honey (short stories, DC Books) and I Wasn’t Always Like This (essays, Signature Editions). Her pastimes include running, cycling and kayaking.

Tuesday May 28-Sunday June 2nd 

8:30 am Morning Writers Mindfulness

TASH McADAM is a Welsh-Canadian YA author, activist and educator. Their publications include trans led thriller No One Left But You, The Psionics—a queer sci fi series—and more. Tash is passionate about social justice and mentors trans youth through the Gender Generations Project, a creative program that has produced two youth-created, critically acclaimed literary collections.

When they’re not writing or reading you can find Tash in a lake, lying on the carpet thinking about monsters, or getting a new tattoo. They enjoy regular cups of tea, sharp objects and existential philosophy.

Friday May 31st

11:00 am Sci Fi and language: Looking at the World with Fresh Eyes

TARA McGUIRE's first book, Holden After & Before — Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, a hybrid work in memoir and fiction (Arsenal Pulp Press), was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award and recognized by The Walrus as one of six "Favourite Books of 2022." Her personal essays have appeared in Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, Geist, Room, Montecristo, The Tyee, and CBC Radio. She holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing and is a graduate of The Writers Studio at Simon Fraser University. Tara lives with her family in North Vancouver, BC.

Tuesday May 28th

7:00 pm Memoir: Blurring Genre Borders

BRYAN MORTENSEN (he/him) is a writer, traveller, and arts administrator who lives and works on the unceded traditional territories of the K’ómoks First Nation. Bryan is the executive director of the Federation of BC Writers and has served as administrative secretary (Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta), as Executive Director (altView Foundation), and as a caseworker (Edmonton John Howard Society.)

In his writing life, Bryan is working hard to avoid novel edits. He enjoys writing much more than editing. Over the past twelve years, he has enthusiastically taken part in the International 3-Day Novel Writing Competition (run by BC's own Anvil press)

9 out of 10 of Bryan's friends describe him as fun and or exhausting.

Tuesday May 28-Sunday June 2nd 

9:00 am Writing Sprints

LYDIA KWA has published two books of poetry (The Colours of Heroines, 1992; sinuous, 2013) and five novels (This Place Called Absence, 2000; The Walking Boy, 2005 and 2019; Pulse, 2010 and 2014; Oracle Bone, 2017; A Dream Wants Waking, 2023). A third book of poetry from time to new will be published by Gordon Hill Press in Fall 2024.

Sunday June 2nd

11:00 am Writing Strange: A Process Workshop

JENNIFER SOMMERSBY writes romantic comedy/women’s fiction, enviromance, romantic suspense, and YA (under several names). She’s worked as a freelance editor since 2005, is concerned about the integrity of her home's foundation secondary to the weight of overstuffed bookcases, and would probably die if Superman showed up and invited her for coffee to talk about saving the world. Cats rule, although her granddog Pippin Took is pretty great too.

https://www.sgabooks.com/  https://www.plumfieldediting.com/  https://www.jennsommersbybooks.com/  https://www.elizagordon.com/

Saturday June 1st

11:00 am Kiss, Don't Tell: A Romance Primer

ANDREW SIMS completed the Bachelor of Music in piano from Baylor University and Master of Music in piano from the University of Alberta. He maintains a busy teaching studio of students ranging from beginners to advanced. Andrew is an examiner for the Canadian National Conservatory of Music and is in demand as an accompanist in the Comox Valley; he specializes in creative, wholistic, and positive teaching, particularly with music learning theory and developing music audiation and literacy.

andrewsimspiano.com

SHELLEY WOOD is a Canadian writer and journalist. Her breakout debut novel, The Quintland Sisters, debuted as a #1 bestseller on the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail fiction lists, holding the top spot for five weeks, then ending the year as #7 on the list of the top 10 bestselling books of 2019. Her second novel, The Leap Year Gene, will be published by HarperCollins Canada and Union Square Press (US) in August 2024. Shelley Wood lives in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Monday May 27th

7:00 pm Historical Fiction and the Dreaded Second Novel