Rita Bouvier is a Métis writer, editor, and retired educator with 37 years in public education at the K-12 and post-secondary levels. Rita's contributions to Indigenous education include essays, books, reports, and active support for community decolonization efforts. Her fourth poetry book, a beautiful rebellion, was released in April 2023. Her work appears in various anthologies and productions and has been translated into Spanish, German, and Cree-Michif of her home community of Île-à-la-Crosse, Sk. Rita is a volunteer with the Saskatchewan Ânskohk Writers Circle Inc., the Indigenous Editors Association, and the League of Canadian Poets.
Bev Brenna is a freelance writer, editor, and landscape artist. She has traditionally published two scholarly books on Canadian children’s literature and 14 books for young people including The White Bicycle, a finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award. Her newest title, Sadi's Dragons, will be released from Thistledown Press in 2026. After teaching in elementary classrooms and special education settings, Bev is now a professor emerita from the University of Saskatchewan. She lives in Saskatoon.
Dwayne Brenna is the award-winning author of several books of humour, poetry, and fiction. Coteau Books published his popular series of humourous vignettes entitled Eddie Gustafson’s Guide to Christmas in 2000. His two books of poetry, Stealing Home and Give My Love to Rose, were published by Hagios Press in 2013 and 2015 respectively. His first novel New Albion was published by Coteau Books in autumn 2016. It subsequently won the fiction award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards and was one of three English-language novels shortlisted for the MM Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction. In 2022, Pocol Press published his second novel Long Way Home. A book of short fiction, entitled Theories of Everything, was published by Shadowpaw Press in March 2025. His short stories and poems have been published in an array of journals, including Grain, Nine, The Cold Mountain Review, and The Antigonish Review.
Writer, filmmaker, and playwright Maria Campbell has published seven books, including Halfbreed, which was first published in 1973 and was republished in 2019 to include pages that were pulled (by the publisher) from ‘73 edition. Film rights for Halfbreed were sold in May 2023. Maria is the Indigenous Knowledge and Wellness Coordinator, Office of the President at the First Nations University of Canada. This follows several years as the Cultural Advisor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. She has received numerous honors and awards, among them the Gabriel Dumont Order of Merit, a three-year Trudeau Fellowship at the University of Ottawa, seven Honorary Doctorates and the Lieutenant Governors Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. She is an officer of the Order of Canada.
Tenille K Campbell is a Dene and Métis author from English River First Nation, SK, and has a PhD in English at the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in Indigenous literature. Her latest poetry collection, Nedí Nezu (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2021), explores the powerful space created by sensual Indigenous womanhood—in life, relationships, and connection to land. Her debut, #IndianLovePoems (Signature Editions, 2017), is an award-winning collection of Indigenous erotica. She is also the artist behind sweetmoon photography, co-creator of the blog tea&bannock, and an emerging beadwork artist.
David Carpenter is the author of 15 books (nonfiction, novels, short stories, novellas, one book of poetry). He is also the editor of the 3 volume Literary History of Saskatchewan and The Education of Augie Merasty. He has received several Saskatchewan Book Awards, including Book of the Year for A Hunter’s Confession, as well as national and western magazine awards for his magazine writing. In 2015 he was the recipient of the Kloppenberg Award for Literary Excellence, and in 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan where he taught for two decades.
Lawrence Hill is the author of eleven books, including Beatrice and Croc Harry, The Illegal, and The Book of Negroes. Hill has volunteered with Crossroads International, The Black Loyalist Heritage Society, The Ontario Black History Society, and in federal penitentiaries. Hill is writing a novel about the African-American soldiers who built the Alaska Highway during World War Two. In 1977 he worked as a CPR train operator in Gull Lake, SK. His short story “Meet You at the Door” fictionalizes that experience, and appeared in The Walrus. A member of the Order of Canada, he teaches writing at the University of Guelph.
Leah Horlick is the author of three books: Riot Lung, For Your Own Good, and Moldovan Hotel. She is a past winner of the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, a Stonewall Honor Title, and ARC’s Poem of the Year Prize. For five years, she and her dear friend Estlin McPhee co-organized a queer, anti-oppressive literary reading series on Unceded Coast Salish Territories called REVERB. Leah was the 2022-23 Canadian Writer in Residence with the Distinguished Writers' Program at the University of Calgary, and is happily back in Saskatoon. You can read her most recent work in Filling Station, Riddle Fence, and Estuaire.
Cryptid enthusiast and fan of all things unusual and uncanny, Delane Just (they/he) is a queer, trans-masculine, and neurodivergent writer and editor residing in Treaty-six Territory (Saskatoon, SK). He is the rentals manager at The Broadway Theatre, an executive board member for JackPine Press, and one of the co-founders of BTWN magazine.
Saskatchewan author Victoria Koops never stopped playing make-believe and often writes while wearing a tiara. Her stories are full of epic adventure and swoony romance, and navigate social issues through the power of fandom and geek culture. Who We Are In Real Life is her debut novel, which has been nominated for two Saskatchewan Book Awards, the Forest of Reading’s White Pine Award™, and was included in the Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Books of 2024. As a practicing counsellor, Victoria lives with her family in Treaty 4 Territory, where she loves to sing off-key, tease her sisters and pretend that she’ll choose a different romance the next time she plays Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Bestselling, award-winning author Alice Kuipers has published thirteen books for young readers, including the Polly Diamond series, and a book of non-fiction called Spark: On Writing For Young Readers. Her work has been published in 36 countries, and she's Head of Coaching at The Novelry. She lives in Saskatoon with her partner and four children.
Mika Lafond is a graduate of the MFA in Writing program at the U of S. She is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She took a great interest in creative writing while she attended ITEP at the University of Saskatchewan through a mentorship with author Bill Robertson. Lafond and her cousin Joi Arcand started Kimiwan Zine in 2012 as an outlet for Indigenous visual artists and creative writers. Lafond has worked in education for ten years, has written resources for teachers, and began teaching at the U of S in 2015. Her writing is influenced by her love for her culture, language, and the importance of education. nipê wânîn is her first book. Lafond lives in Saskatoon.
Tonia Laird is a Métis writer from Treaty 6 territory. Her work is included in multiple publications including literary magazines, fantasy and comic book anthologies, and video games Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, mobile game, Everlove: Rose, and the interactive novel, Poster Girl. Her debut novel, Seventhblade, was released June 2025 by ECW Press, and her upcoming supernatural YA trilogy based on Métis folklore is due for release fall 2026 by Simon & Schuster Canada. Tonia's most recent stint in video games was as a Lorekeeper and world-builder at Thought Pennies Entertainment.
John Loeppky is a Saskatoon-based British-Canadian freelance disabled journalist. His work has appeared for publications like Macleans, CBC, the Globe and Mail, The Huffington Post, JSource, Healthline, Teen Vogue, FiveThirtyEight, and a host of others. His work has been the recipient of many awards, including a National Magazine Award and multiple RTDNA awards. Prior to becoming a freelance journalist, John worked for Listen to Dis' Community Arts, an organization which he credits with much of his success. John holds an MFA from the University of Regina, a project where he studied disability culture, identity, solo performance, and prairie disability history. His goal in life is to have an entertaining obituary to read and he lives on Treaty Six Territory with his wife and three dogs.
Jeanette Lynes’ fourth novel, The Paper Birds, was published by HarperCollins Canada in June, 2025. She is the author of three previous novels as well as seven poetry collections. Jeanette’s collection of personal essays, Apron Apocalypse, is forthcoming from Thistledown Press in 2026. She directs the MFA in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan.
Dash Reimer is an artist and educator based out of Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon. With over a decade of professional experience in the arts, he makes his living within the worlds of poetry and hip hop, performing on stages across Turtle Island, North Africa, South Africa and Turkey. Dash has been lucky to have been able to premiere original plays at Fringe Festivals, share stages with spoken word greats like Buddy Wakefield, use his Arabic to work with acclaimed Tunisian Jazz musicians and perform in front of crowds of thousands as well as empty rooms. He was Saskatchewan's 5th Youth Poet Laureate and is looking forward to whatever step comes next in his artistic journey.
Theressa Slind is a writer and librarian based in Saskatoon. Her debut short story collection, Only If We're Caught (Thistledown Press), won the 2022 Saskatchewan Book Award for First Book and was shortlisted for the Book of the Year and Fiction Awards. Her fiction has appeared in Grain, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, and elsewhere.
Dr. Verna St. Denis, distinguished Professor Emerita of Education at the University of Saskatchewan, former Special Advisor to the President at University of Saskatchewan on Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression, January 2021, to January 2025. Dr. St. Denis is both Metis and Cree, and member of Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation, Treaty #6. Completed a BEd. (with distinction) U of S in 1982, Master of Arts, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 1989 and a Ph.D. in Education at Stanford University, 2002, Fulbright Scholar, 1994. Conducted extensive research on the personal and professional experiences and knowledges of Indigenous teachers working in Canadian public schools.
Betty Ternier Daniels lives with her husband and cat on a farm in northwest Saskatchewan. When she retired from teaching as a sessional instructor in the U of S English department, she wrote her first novel. Grounds for Murder was published by ECW Press in September 2024. She is working on her second novel, A Clear-Cut Case.
