Sandy Marie Bonny is a writer, artist, and earth scientist (PhD 2007) whose creative work engages interdisciplinary narratives. Her writing has appeared in journals and anthologies; as well as two books, The Sometimes Lake (stories, 2012) and Yes, and Back Again (novel, 2015), published with Thistledown Press. By day, Sandy brings science, stories, and students together as Team Lead for ISAP and STEM access initiatives in the USask College of Arts and Science.
Michael Christie is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Greenwood, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a finalist for the 2023 edition of Canada Reads, and has been published in over 20 countries. A former carpenter and homeless shelter worker, he lives with his two children in Victoria, British Columbia, the unceded territory of the Lkwungen speaking people, and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEC First Nations, where he teaches a short fiction course at UVIC.
Leah Horlick is the author of three collections of poetry: Riot Lung, For Your Own Good, and Moldovan Hotel. She is a past winner of the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, Canada's only award for emerging LGBTQ2S+ writers, and her second book was named a Stonewall Honor Title by the American Library Association. She and Estlin McPhee spent five years co-organizing REVERB, an anti-oppressive reading series that centered accessibility for queer and trans writers on Unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver. Originally from Saskatoon, Leah is happy to have moved back home after many years away.
Delane Just (they/them) is a Saskatchewan-based queer, neurodivergent writer, editor, and poet. They are the executive director of JackPine Press, co-founder of BTWNmagazine, and the copyeditor/proofreader of Grain Magazine.
Mika Lafond is nêhiyaw iskwêw from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She resides in Treaty 6 territory. She is a mother, educator and author. Mika graduated from ITEP at University of Saskatchewan. She then completed a MFA Writing at U of SK and published a bilingual poetry book: nipê wânîn. Mika recently co-edited My Family, My People, a collection of ITEP student creative writing. She is currently a PhD student at U of SK and is a director of the iyinisiwin Story Institute Incorporated.
Taidgh Lynch is a poet from Killarney, Ireland who completed an MFA in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan in 2019. In 2022 he was awarded an Independent Artist Grant from SK Arts. His poetry has appeared in Prairie Fire, untethered magazine, The Waxed Lemon, and elsewhere. His poetry chapbook, First Lift Here was published with JackPine Press (2019). He lives in Saskatoon with his wife and child.
Jaclyn Morken is a writer and editor from Saskatoon. She is a graduate of the MFA in Writing program at the University of Saskatchewan, during which she discovered the joys of a writing community, learned to use ellipses more sparingly, and finally completed her first novel. Her writing has since appeared in numerous publications—including antilang., Frictionlit.org, and BlackFlash Magazine—and read at the 20/21 Vision: Speculating in Literature and Film in Canada conference. She has been a volunteer editor with Brink Literacy Project and F(r)iction Magazine since 2019, and currently works as Publicist for Thistledown Press in Saskatoon.
Josiah Nelson holds an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis was a collection of fabulist short stories. His writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in Fractured Lit., Hunger Mountain Review, the Nashwaak Review, Palette Poetry, and Queen's Quarterly. He lives in Saskatoon.
Kristine Scarrow (she/her) is the author of four young adult novels. She holds an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and was a five-year hospital Writer in Residence. She is currently working on a short story collection and adult medical fiction novel. She recently served as the Saskatoon Public Library Writer in Residence in 2022-2023. Kristine lives in Saskatoon.
Gregory Scofield is Métis of Cree, Scottish, and European-immigrant descent whose ancestry can be traced to the Métis community of Kinosota, Manitoba. He currently teaches in the Department of Writing at the University of Victoria. Scofield won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1994 for his debut collection, The Gathering: Stones for the Medicine Wheel, and has since published seven further volumes of poetry including, Witness I Am. He is the recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal (2012) and the Writers’ Trust of Canada Latner Poetry Prize (2016). Scofield’s first memoir, Thunder Through My Veins (Doubleday Canada/Anchor Books) was republished in 2019.
In 2015 Gayle Smith graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Master of Fine Arts in Writing. Her manuscript, Thickwood, was her 2013 thesis for the MFA and also was accepted for publication in 2022 by Shadowpaw Press. Gayle, with her partner, rides horses in the wilderness, competes in numerous equestrian events, and owns and operates a boarding facility. Her love of the environment, history, and adventure shine in her writing.
