Barbara Bell Bio coming soon! . . . . . .

Sadiqa de Meijer is an award-winning author, and poet - currently serving as Kingston Ontario’s Poet Laureate - whose book alfabet/alphabet: a memoir of a first language won the Governor General’s Award for English-language non-fiction in 2021. Born in Amsterdam and raised in Canada, Sadiqa explores the complexities of her identity as an immigrant across her writing in all its forms, describing “the sound of Dutch exists like a faint carbon shadow in my English,” on the topic of language in alfabet/alphabet. Her debut collection of poetry, Leaving Howe Island, was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for English-language poetry in 2014, and her writing has been published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines.

Colton Fox is a writer, artist, educator and comic creator best known for his hit independent series Witch Hazel. His work has been featured in galleries, publications, stage and film. He is not actually just two foxes in a trench coat.

Bruce Kauffman lives in Kingston and is a poet, editor, and organizer of literary events. His written work has appeared in several anthologies and journals, four chapbooks, and five collections of poetry that include an evening absence still waiting for moon (2019) and still arriving (2023). Beyond writing and editing, he facilitates intuitive writing workshops. In 2009 he founded, and still organizes and hosts the monthly ‘and the journey continues’ open mic reading series. In 2010 he debuted his weekly spoken word radio show, ‘finding a voice’ on CFRC 101.9fm, and continues to produce and host it. You can find him on Facebook. Email: bruce.kauffman@hotmail.com

Adrian Michael Kelly is the author of Down Sterling Road, a novel, The Ambassador of What, a collection of short stories, and the forthcoming memoir (summer, 2026) Maybe It's Me. Born in Timmins, Ontario, he was raised by his father in Campbellford, and currently lives in Kingston, where he's at work on a new novel. He has taught courses as well as workshops in literature and in writing across Canada and around the world.

Aric McBay is a community organizer, organic farmer, and author of nine books. Publishers Weekly called his recent novel Inversion “a masterful worldbuilding feat” in a starred review. His next book, Movements That Win, is a nonfiction collection of social movement victories available December 2025. Aric is also an award-winning digital game developer, and writer and narrative designer of The Light Within, a mobile game about mental health and winner of Unity for Humanity 2024. His game Maybe We Saved The World was the Grand Prize winner of Just Play: A Game Jam for Climate Futures.

Julie Salverson is a nonfiction writer, playwright, editor, scholar and theatre animator. Her most recent title is 2024's A Necessary Distance: Confessions of a Scriptwriter’s Daughter. She is a fourth-generation Icelandic Canadian writer: her father, George, wrote early CBC radio and television drama and her grandmother Laura won two Governor General’s Awards (1937, 1939). Julie’s theatre, opera, books and essays embrace the relationship of imagination and foolish witness to risky stories and trauma. She works on atomic culture, community-engaged theatre and the place of the foolish witness in social, political and interpersonal generative relationships. Salverson offers resiliency and peer-support workshops to communities dealing with trauma and has many years of experience teaching and running workshops. Recent publications include the book When Words Sing: Seven Canadian Libretti (Playwrights Canada Press, 2021) and Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir (Wolsak & Wynn, 2016).

Wilding is an Improviser, Actor, Comedian, Director, Producer, Writer, Host and Improv Coach. Wilding has been performing and teaching Improv for over 25 years. Their high energy, quick wit and rolodex of zany characters can be found on many stages from Vancouver, BC to Kingston, ON. Wilding is an Alumni Performer, past Artistic Director, and Improv Workshop Instructor with QueerProv – Western Canada’s premier Queer Improv Troupe and an Alumni Performer, Sound and Lighting Improviser with the Improv Centre – the organization formerly known as Vancouver TheatreSports. Turn your TV on at just the right time and you might catch Wilding’s Season One, First Dates Canada episode! They are one half of Improv Comedy Duo & Education Company, ‘All-Inclusive Comedy’, who you can find on many stages across Kingston and beyond – including the last Sunday of each month in their hilarious Improv & Sketch variety style show ‘Sunday Night Live – the Improv Show!’ at The Spire! Wilding loves connecting with people and making them laugh. They enjoy sharing the gift of Improv with as many people as they possibly can!

Nancy Jo Cullen's most recent book is her fourth poetry collection, Nothing Will Save Your Life published by Wolsak and Wynn. She is a twice-nominated Journey Prize Fiction writer. Her novel, The Western Alienation Merit Badge was published in 2019 and was shortlisted for the 2020 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Her short story collection Canary, is the winner of 2012 Metcalf-Rooke Award. Her first collection Science Fiction Saint was short-listed for the Canadian League of Poets Gerald Lampert Award, the Writers Guild of Alberta’s Stephan G. Stephansson Award and the Alberta Pulbishers Trade Book Award. Her second collection Pearl was short listed for the W.O. Mitchell Calgary Book Prize and won the Alberta Publishers Trade Book Award. The Globe and Mail described Cullen’s third collection, untitled child as: “a little like drinking booze. Definitely not wine, because it’s not all that genteel, and not beer, because it’s not all that commonplace, but hard liquor because it’s edgy, fast-acting, more than a little disorienting and frequently mixed with something sweet.” Nancy is the 2010 winner of the Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging Gay Writer. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph Humber. A transplanted westerner, she now lives in Kingston, ON.

Ryan Ewing, the creative force behind Pocket Thoughts Zines, has been creating zines in Kingston since the late 1990's. He is a writer, an artist, and a lover of pancakes. Over the last seven years, his zines have been enjoyed by readers all around the world. Ryan's zines are full of satire, deep thoughts, comix, poetry, and a whole lot of "Randomonium" (which is to say each page can be a surprise). Ryan loves hosting zine-making workshops, having previously hosted them at WritersFest, and at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

Jason Heroux is an Operations Manager in the Contact Centre Services Branch of ServiceOntario, and the author of several books, most recently the short story collection Survivors of the Hive (Radiant Press, 2023) and a book of prose poems, Like a Trophy from the Sun (Guernica Editions, 2024). He was the Poet Laureate for the City of Kingston from 2019 to 2022.

Billie Kearns, known by her stage name Billie the Kid, is a K’ai Taile Dené and Nehiyaw spoken word poet and storyteller. Originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, she now resides in Kingston, Ontario, the traditional home of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Huron-Wendat. Kearns holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University and has performed at events across Turtle Island from CUPSI to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Her poetry breathes life into narratives as she explores relationships with family, friends, food, and the dynamic nature of dreams.

Jermaine Marshall aka Jmarsh is a proud queer Jamaican immigrant, artist and educator with a profound interest in facilitating meaningful and transformative intercultural encounters. After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies and a Master of Arts in Social Justice and Equity Studies from Brock University, Jermaine worked passionately across the public and private sector in Canada to increase organizational capacities in responding to complex socio-legal issues and changing inter-cultural landscapes. He now serves as a policy advisor, educator and project manager at Queen’s University. As an artistic practitioner he is an active poet, vocalist and performer, a featured 2021 “artist of the city of St. Catharine’s” and the 2023 recipient of the city of Kingston Mayor’s Arts Champion Award. A storyteller at heart, his artistry pulls from a wealth of personal experience as he seeks to create a vibrant soundscape that captures the contours of lived pain, practiced joy and emergent hope within an oppressive society.

Lindy Mechefske is one of the most recognized names in food writing in Canada with a large media following, both in traditional media and social media. She is the author of five books on food and culture, and a two-time Gold Medal Winner in the Taste Canada Awards for Out of Old Ontario Kitchens and Sir John's Table, and the author of A Taste of Wintergreen. She is the food columnist for the Kingston Whig-Standard . Her work has appeared in various anthologies, literary journals and magazines including The New Quarterly, the Ottawa Citizen, Grapevine Magazine, and Kingston Life. Lindy Mechefske is one of the most recognized names in food writing in Canada with a large media following, both in traditional media and social media. She is a two-time Gold Medal Winner in the Taste Canada Awards for Out of Old Ontario Kitchens and Sir John's Table, and the author of A Taste of Wintergreen. She is the food columnist for the Kingston Whig-Standard (Canada's oldest daily newspaper). Her work has appeared in various anthologies, literary journals and magazines including The New Quarterly, the Ottawa Citizen, Grapevine Magazine, and Kingston Life.

Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang is the author of Grappling Hook with Palimpsest Press (2022), which was shortlisted for the Raymond Souster Award, Status Update (2013), shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award and the Gerald Lampert Award winning Sweet Devilry (2011). She has been featured in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry and shortlisted for the CBC’s Poetry Prize. She is the past Poetry Editor for Arc Poetry Magazine, and teaches Creative Writing at Queens University.