Events & Workshops

Join us at the Bushwakker Writer’s Corner 9^th Edition Author Reading, where we celebrate the talents of local authors Chelsea Coupal, Dr. Norma Dunning, Kat Gilks, Céleste Grimard, and Lili Zwart. Local author Wanda Gronhovd is hosting this event. Bushwakker will have local food, drinks, and a special dessert for sale while we make ourselves cozy in the year-round Writer’s Corner found near the back of the brewpub. 

 

This event is in partnership with Bushwakker Brewpub. This event is in-person only and will not be livestreamed or recorded.

 

Some authors will have their books available for purchase by cash on event day. Or, consider purchasing these authors' new releases through the following links:

 

• Chelsea Coupal’s U Alive
• Dr. Norma Dunning’s Naoyak
• Kat Gilks’ Firstborn Daughter
• Céleste Grimard’s The Silence Rule or her non-fiction work
• Lili Zwart’s Miracles on Bella Camila
• Wanda Gronhovd’s Shifting Sands

 

About the Bushwakker Writer’s Corner:

 

Bushwakker is seeking donations of recent publications (2024-26 publication dates) from Saskatchewan authors in all genres to help expand their library within the Writer’s Corner. The books will be available for patrons to read and are to remain in the brewpub at all times.

 

To be considered for the library, books must be a minimum of 40 pages and professionally bound.

 

Please drop off a copy of your recently published book (along with purchasing information which can be shared with brewpub patrons) to Grant Frew at bar@bushwakker.com.

 

Please be mindful of your time zone. All times listed in Saskatchewan time. (https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter)

 

Accessibility measures for this event:

• (TBD) A read-along copy of the authors' reading available during the live event only
• Presenter self-descriptions
• All authors will use a microphone when speaking
• Wheelchair accessible venue (access from rear, stair access from front door)
• Many non-alcoholic beverage options are available for purchase
• Free admission
• Patrons must be 19+ with valid ID

 

Meet our event artists:

 

Chelsea Coupal’s second poetry collection, U Alive, was released earlier this year with Thistledown Press. Her first poetry collection, Sedley, was selected for an Indigo Exclusive Edition and shortlisted for three Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her work has won the City of Regina Writing Award, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Best Canadian Poetry.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Norma Dunning is an Inuk professor, writer and grandmother. She has published two short story collections, two collections of poetry and one work of nonfiction. Her work has been well awarded and all translated from English to French. Her two children’s books Aput! and Anaanatsiaq will publish in 2027. Naoyak is her first novel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kat Gilks grew up in Regina and has been writing since elementary school. Over the course of nearly four decades, she has written many types of stories in a variety of genres but has always had a particular interest in speculative fiction. Having studied history and information science, Kat works in nonprofit and, when not writing in her spare time, enjoys volunteering, exploring, and spending time with her family and cats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Céleste Grimard is a writer who has traded a decades-long career in academic research for a second act devoted to writing. Her nonfiction grows out of a lifelong love of reading, learning, and asking questions. She spent decades researching and publishing on topics including workplace emotions, burnout, bullying, leadership, and pedagogy, and was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada. She has published numerous books, including Surviving Academia and The Research Productivity Toolkit, and writes the Civility and Random Notes, Alphabetically Explored series. Although nonfiction remains her comfort zone, she’s increasingly enjoying fiction, including her psychological thriller The Silence Rule.

 

 

An import from the Netherlands, Lili Zwart moved to Canada at age four and grew up in Toronto and Vancouver before making Regina her home. There, she earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree and dedicated twenty-five years to public service, working first with World War II veterans and later with First Nations communities.

In December 2025, Lili published her debut novel, Miracles on Bella Camila, a coming-of-age story about a teenager who revives his great-grandfather's vineyard. The story explores themes of seeing our neighbours with new eyes and the restoration of land and man.

Now retired, Lili enjoys life with her grown twin sons, their wives, and three grandkiddies.

 

 

 

 

 

Host

 

Wanda Gronhovd has been writing her whole life. She self-published her first memoir, Shifting Sands, in 2022, which is a memoir about coming out as queer in the 1990's.   She is presently working on a second memoir. She writes spoken word poetry and is a songwriter. She has a Substack called Reflections on Creativity, Spirituality and Grief. She belongs to the writers' group Witness our Words, who are a part of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. She is a retired nurse, and in her spare time she knits for herself and her granddaughter. 

 

 

 

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Funding provided by:

 

           

 

In proud partnership with: