Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Saskatchewan Métis and Cree writer whose most recent book, Probably Ruby, is published internationally and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award, for the Amazon First Novel Award, and won Saskatchewan Book of the Year. Lisa is currently working on a memoir for Knopf Canada about her search for family and identity as an Indigenous adoptee. She is the new CEO of SK Arts and lives in Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon.
Sarah Ens is a writer and editor based in Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg, MB). She is the author of two books of poetry, The World Is Mostly Sky and Flyway, which won the 2023 ReLit Poetry Award. Winner of The New Quarterly's Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest and Room Magazine's Short Forms Contest, Sarah has published poetry and non-fiction in magazines including Prairie Fire, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Contemporary Verse 2. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from UBC and an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and works as a book publicist at University of Manitoba Press.
Rachel Laverdiere is a writer and potter based in Saskatoon. Her work has earned recognition in Wigleaf's Top 50 and the Longridge Review’s Barnhill Prize, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. Her stories appear in North American anthologies and literary journals such as Grain, The New Quarterly, Anti-Heroin Chic, Pithead Chapel, and Sundog Literary. Rachel’s writing explores themes of safety, healing from childhood trauma, and the intricacies of human relationships. For more, visit rachellaverdiere.com or connect with her on X @r_laverdiere or Bluesky @rachellaverdiere.bsky.social.
Jane Urquhart was born in the Canada’s far north. She is the author of eight internationally acclaimed novels, among them The Whirlpool, which received Le prix du meilleur livre étranger in France; Away, winner of the Trillium Award, The Underpainter, winner of the Governor General’s Award and a finalist for The Orange Prize in the UK, and The Stone Carvers, which was a finalist for The Giller Prize, the Governors General’s Award, and Britain’s Booker Prize. Her most recent novel, In Winter I Get up at Night, which is set in Saskatchewan, was an instant bestseller. Urquhart is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. Jane Urquhart lives in Northumberland County, Ontario.
