Afrooz Zaad was born in Iran and came to Montreal in 2019. Although she has a B.A in graphic design and experience in multidisciplinary art projects, she has always considered herself more of a writer. She learned writing by self-studying and participating in several workshops and classes (and continues to do so). She has published short stories in a few online literary magazines in Iran, and has written several plays and short films. On her busy desk these days, you can find a social justice themed speculative novel she started couple of years ago, which was paused to write a fantasy novel for children. You’ll also find some poems and personal essays that she’s always working on.

Priya Choudhuri is a multidisciplinary visual artist and writer who moves between mediums to express the mutability of their senses. Priya explores themes of existence, absurdity, the spirit and the body through poetry and prose as well as various forms of visual arts such as metalwork. Recently they have taken their writing to their exploration of sound. Priya seeks to engage their work in critical dialogue, questioning their participation in the world. Their work aims to create a bridge between introspection and community, offering thought provoking interaction.

Ross Murray has been chronicling life in the Eastern Townships for the past 30 years. In addition to his award-winning humour column in both The Stanstead Journal and The Sherbrooke Record, Ross has published four story collections, a novel and a play, All Together Now, which he directed for Borderline Players in 2019. His work has appeared frequently in McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, Points in Case, and elsewhere. A new play, Bride of Memphré, will be produced by Borderline Players in 2023.

Scott Anthony is a writer, web developer, educator and all around ordinary person. He grew up in and around Montreal, mostly staying out of trouble. Mostly. He’s been putting more time into his writing as he sees that there is less time ahead than has been wasted behind.

Val Rwigema is a writer and vocalist who grew up in the Prairies, currently based in Tioh’tià:ke (Montréal). Influenced by their cultural background, upbringing, and identity, their writing explores themes of racialization, queerness, colonialism, ancestry and memory. Through poetry and prose, Val’s work seeks to engage critically and emotionally with both themself and their environment, hoping to tease out vulnerability and inspire connection, however they choose to manifest. Val is also an occasional writer for the Montreal Review of Books.
[Photo: Priya Choudhuri]

Sal Eigh is an emerging screenwriter, director, and producer. She is an alumni of the Reelworld Emerging 20 Program, Kino Mentorat, and Main Film’s PRISME Program. In 2022, Sal was the recipient of a QWF Screenwriting mentorship. Born and raised in downtown Toronto, Sal now resides in Montreal. Her work explores the mundanity of growing up in a multicultural urban environment.

Derek Webster is the author of Mockingbird, a finalist for the 2016 Gerald Lampert Award, and the founding editor of Maisonneuve magazine. Author of over a hundred pieces in magazines, journals, newspapers and online, his long-form profile of translator Sheila Fischman in The Walrus was a finalist for the Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism, and his editorials in Maisonneuve were a finalist for Best Column at the National Magazine Awards. Recent work appears in Pulp Literature, The Honest Ulsterman, the anthology Letters from Montreal and the chapbook Voices of Quebec/Les Voix du Québec. His second full-length collection of poems appears in Spring 2024 with Signal. He lives in Montreal.

Liam Durcan is a Montreal writer who has published a short story collection A Short Journey by Car (Vehicle Press) and two novels, Garcia’s Heart (Mcclelland & Stewart ) and The Measure of Darkness (Bellevue Literary Press), which was awarded the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. He has recently finished a novel about the Winnipeg General Strike.

Willie Poll is a Métis author, educator, and changemaker.

Mya Beaudry is a 12-year-old Algonquin from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and the creative force behind Kokom Scrunchies.

Joseph Sarenhes is a young Afro-Indigenous rapper, musician and composer from Wendake | Bear clan | Yänionnyen, in Quebec City, Canada.

Terry Dactel is Wendat, mixed, queer and neurodivergent, and a tattooist living in Montreal/Tio’tià:ke.

Maggie Vicaire is a writer and poet from the Mi’gmaq First Nations community of Listuguj, Quebec.

Johnny Boivin is a multidisciplinary artist from the Innu and Atikamekw nations, currently living in Tio’tià:ke.

Taiorenhote Dan David is sometimes a writer, journalist and media trainer when he’s not cycling, listening to music and podcasts, or working on a pile of unread books at home at Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory.

Kimberly Hardy teaches English, Math & Home Economics at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School in Ormstown, Quebec. Curran Katsi’soró:kwas Jacobs is a Kanien’kehá:ka educator and advocate for decolonization from the community of Kahnawá:ke.

Curran Katsi’soró:kwas Jacobs is a Kanien’kehá:ka educator and advocate for decolonization from the community of Kahnawá:ke.

Lisa Silver is an amateur writer, full-time ELA Teacher and devoted horror fanatic. She works at Golden Valley School in Val-d’Or, QC.

Daphne Petersen is a Sec 1 and 2 ELA teacher at Laurentian Regional High School in Lachute Quebec.

Carolyn Marie Souaid is a Montreal-based poet, novelist and visual artist who has recently retired after more than 35 years as an educator.

Dr. Dorothy W. Williams is a historian, author, educator, researcher, and community consultant. She grew up in the historic Black community of Little Burgundy in Montréal. Her interests and services lie in the areas of history, identity and race, gender, family support, housing, empowerment, anti-gang intervention, entrepreneurship and education.

Kimberly Hardy teaches English, Math & Home Economics at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School in Ormstown, Quebec.

Melissa White is a passionate CanLit fan from Northern Ontario who has been teaching at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf since 2010.

Zehava Cohn is a former editor, mom & tot leader, and bookseller, and is now the head librarian at Hebrew Academy in Montreal, Quebec.

Writer, poet, performer, historian, anthropologist and visual arts curator, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui refuses to be categorized and defines himself above all as a creator. A member of the Wolf clan of the Wendat people, he grew up in Wendake and still lives there.

Writer, poet, performer, historian, anthropologist and visual arts curator, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui refuses to be categorized and defines himself above all as a creator. A member of the Wolf clan of the Wendat people, he grew up in Wendake and still lives there.

Karen McBride is an Algonquin Anishinaabe author from Timiskaming First Nation, now living on unceded Algonquin territory in Ottawa.

Elspeth Tulloch is a specialist of Canadian literature in the Département de littérature, théâtre et cinéma at Université Laval.

Luc Murray Mercier is a translator and Laval University graduate student currently living in Strasbourg.

Aroa El Horani is a freelance translator based in Quebec City. She holds a Master’s degree in translation from Laval University, a Masters in International and European Law from Université de Lille (France) and a Bachelor of Law from Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens (France). She speaks four languages (English, French, Bulgarian and Arabic).

Hannah Bel Davis is a writer, filmmaker, and translator. Hannah has an MA in Creative Writing from Concordia University. She currently lives in Montreal/Tio’tia:ke but is originally from New Westminster, British Columbia.

Monica van Schaik is a social worker, disability justice activist and writer. They live along the Haldimand Tract in so-called Kitchener, Ontario.

Allie Pauld is a queer and disabled Pro-Black feminist, writer and organizer, trying to change the world; nothing more, nothing less.

Aimee Louw is a writer and journalist living in Tio’tià:ke whose work incorporates disability justice with imagining flourishing futures.

seeley quest is a trans disabled environmentalist who landed 2017 in Montreal, working in literary and body-based composition, curation and facilitation.

Alyse Tunnell is a neurodiverse, queer, nb, creator and accessibility advocate, residing and building community in Tio’tia:ke/Montréal, Quebec.

Sky Oestreicher (they/them) is a shapeshifting being who lives in Montreal/Tio’tia:ke and has their hands in many community projects. They believe that words, spoken and written, can help manifest futures that are more just and harmonious.

M-X Marin is based in Gespe’gewa’gi, on stolen Mi’gmaq land in so-called Canada. They are learning to devote the rest of their life to living joyously among loved ones.

Oliver Fugler, along with Ashley Fortier, runs Metonymy Press in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal.

Emma Boucher is a Montreal-based student with a passion for literature and writing.

Ally Leung is a student, born and raised in Montreal.

Chiara Bramante is a writer, girl guide, workaholic and student who is originally from Quebec, Canada.

Jonathan is starting his last year at Bialik High School in Cote-Saint Luc and is passionate about
history and all things politics.

Eleftheria Lazaridis is a writer, performer and scenographer, born in Greece and currently living in Montreal.

Maya Novolker is a full time student, athlete and book lover from Montreal.

Caitlin Siemon is a high school student who writes, originally from Australia but has lived in the US and now lives in Montreal.

Rena Aintabi is a writer, originally from New York City, now living in Montreal with her parents and two siblings. She attends Trafalgar School.

Eva and Asha are siblings and aspiring young writers based in the Laurentian mountains.

Barbara Burgess is a Montreal poet and the author of several novels set in Cacouna, in the Lower Saint Lawrence region of Quebec.

Marie-Christine Plourde is a teacher, artist and writer, originally from Rimouski and now living in Gaspé/Gespeg.

Jennifer L. Willett is a freelance writer who runs an English Gaspésian Writing Group on the Gaspé Coast and lives in Caplan.

Leïla Sofiane is a slam poet and spoken word artist of mixed Algerian and French heritage. They have made a home in Gespe’gewa’gi, an unceded Mi’gmaq territory also known as the Gaspé peninsula.

Shelby Flowers is a CEGEP student, pursuing her post-secondary studies within the Eastern Townships who composes fictional works of poetry and short stories in her spare time.

Josette Boudreau is a Family Mediator and Counsellor, who stepped out of her comfort zone four years ago to experience the pleasure of writing.

Sonia Boudreau is originally from the Gaspésie and recently returned to the Peninsula after a 30 year career as a French teacher in Southern Ontario.

Toula Drimonis is a Montreal-based freelance opinion columnist, writer and news producer.

Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto are writers and activists based in Los Angeles and Quebec City.

Tom Fennario is a video journalist/producer for APTN News in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal.

Madeline Lines is a writer and current Funding and Outreach Coordinator at CKUT.

Stefan Spirodon Christoff is a media maker, community activist and artist living in Montreal.

Charlotte Morris is a queer multidisciplinary artist and a recent graduate of Dawson College, who will be starting her studies in English Literature at Concordia University in the Fall.

Emné Nasereddine is a poet living in Montréal/Tio’tia:ke.

Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch is a writer, poet, magazine editor, and acquisitions editor at Metonymy Press living in Montréal/Tio’tia:ke.

Ehab Lotayef is a poet, justice activist and IT Manager of Egyptian origin. He has been calling Montréal/Tio’tia:ke home for over 30 years.

Nadah el Shazly is a singer and composer from Cairo, Egypt and now based in Montreal.

Egypto-Québécois Symon Henry’s artistic practice is based on the interaction between three major axes in their creations, namely concert music, visual arts and poetry.

Leila Marshy is Guest Editor of Font. Her novel, The Philistine, was published by LLP in 2018. She is working on another.

Baharan Baniahmadi is a writer and actress, originally from Iran and based in Montreal.

Elkahna Talbi a.k.a Queen Ka is a poet, performer and actress, born in Montréal/Tio’tia:ke, from an Amazigh background.

Spoken word poet, visual artist, and literary translator Hoda Adra was born in Lebanon and grew up in Saudi Arabia until 17, before being adopted by Montreal/Tio’tia:ke in 2002.

Ehab Lotayef is a poet, justice activist and IT Manager of Egyptian origin. He has been calling Montréal/Tio’tia:ke home for over 30 years.

Elspeth Tulloch is a specialist of Canadian literature in the Département de littérature, théâtre et cinéma at Université Laval.

Luc Murray Mercier is a translator and Laval University graduate student currently living in Strasbourg.

Roxanne Bédard-Saucier is studying English literature in Quebec City and spends most of her time between the pages of her favorite novels.

Mary Thaler is a writer, webcomic creator, and microbial ecologist, living in Quebec City.

Abel Martinez is an up-and-coming content creator, video editor, and passionate linguist from Northern Mexico looking to make their words reach way beyond the border.

Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student with Université Laval, working on science fiction literature, and a podcast host on the New Books Network.

Lydie Dubuisson is a theater creator, playwright, director, and curator. Her art explores intersectionality, dystopia, collective memory and multilingual creative processes.

Alessandra Tom is a director, dramaturg, and performance creator currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and is the artistic facilitator at Teesri Duniya Theatre, providing literary management and coordinating the Fireworks Playwright Program.

Nathaniel Hanula-James (he/him) is a theatre-maker. Born and raised in Vancouver (the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations), he now makes his home in Toronto/T’karonto. He is working toward an artistic practice that is irreverent, zany, and unabashedly queer.

This is the transcript of a fake podcast interview with fictional playwright Caren Hwite-Phaggét, whose real-life play “In Pontréal” will be produced in Montreal/Tio’tia:ke in 2024.

Carolyn Fe is a Filipino-Canadian actress, singer-songwriter, playwright and writer; born in the Philippines, grew up in Tio’tia:ke (Montreal) and is now living in Tkaronto (Toronto).

Sangeeta Wylie is an actor, playwright/poet, and dentist originally from Newfoundland, now residing in the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples (Vancouver).

Tiernan is a performer/artist born and based in Tiohti:áke/Montréal.

Caroline Lou is a poet and nature enthusiast who currently lives in Tkaronto/Toronto.

Debdeep Chatterjee is a Ph.D. candidate researching corporate sustainability. He is from India and has been living in Montréal/Tio’tia:ke.

Lib Spry has been a theatre maker for 50+ years as a director, playwright, dramaturge, popular theatre worker, performer, translator, community artist and educator.

Lisa Wagner is a part-time resident in Quebec. She’s a writer, naturalist, and gardener in Rimouski (Mi’gmaq territory).

Dona Nham is a spoken word artist, storyteller, facilitator, and cultural worker living in Tio’tia:ke (Montreal). 

Larch grew up in Chibougamau, Quebec. Now living in Rimouski for most of the year, with summers and Xmases spent in Nunavik.

Cornelius Hammer is a retired fisheries biologist and writer who recently immigrated to Québec, living now in Rimouski.

Lisan Chng is a mosaic artist, cultural manager and aspiring writer living in the Lower Saint Lawrence region of Quebec.

Barb Amsden is a Montrealer born and bred, whose heart is in the Gaspé.

Judith Catt was born and raised in England, then emigrated to Canada as a young bride. She lived her married life in Northern Quebec with her French husband and then, after he died, moved to the Lower Saint Lawrence.

Emy Harwood-Jones is a hard working student and lifeguard facing the troubles of being a girl from the Lower Saint Lawrence.

Anik Tardif is a grade 8 student from Métis Beach school. She writes with passion and expresses her feelings through her words.

R.A. Garber lives in the hinterland of Maple Leaf, QC, and is editor of The Townships Sun.

Eleanor Gang is a musician, writer and chronic knitter who has made her home in Lennoxville since the late ’80s.

Louise Abbott is a writer, photographer, and independent filmmaker in the Eastern Townships. She is a founding member and past president of Studio Georgeville.

Tanya Standish McIntyre is a poet and visual artist living in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

Loch Baillie is an aspiring writer and editor based in Quebec City.

Heather Davis assembles words and teaches at two universities in Sherbrooke. She believes that writing is a social act and that art is energy.

Jacqueline Korschun Hyman is a writer from Sawyerville (Eastern Townships) enjoying her retirement from a career as a professor of anthropology and co-proprietor of a dairy farm.

Louise Abbott is a writer, photographer, and independent filmmaker in the Eastern Townships. She is a founding member and past president of Studio Georgeville.

Angela Leuck is a poet and publisher living in the Eastern Townships.

Gabriel Safdie is a writer and photographer. He is the director of the Centre des arts de Stanstead that features the bilingual poetry reading series.

Born and raised in Quebec, Sherwins-A. Jean is a writer and poet of Haitian descent working in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

Anne Victoria Jean-François is a Montreal-based singer / songwriter currently co-authoring a Canadian Black history book in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke with the Black Community Resource Centre.

Matthew Mullone is a Créole-Texan anthropologist, communicator and multidisciplinary artist, using his art to push for change and understanding. Currently based in Tio’tia:ke / Montreal.

Amanda Asomani-Nyarko also known as GG (she/her/elle) is a writer, poet, and spoken word artist living in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

Ayana Monuma is a writer and poet working in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

Cindy Keza (she/her) is a Rwandan writer and poet based in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke who is working on her happiness and finding her purpose.

Fabiola Ingabire is a Montreal / Tio’tia:ke based aspiring writer and researcher interested in the intersections of race, gender and new media.

Fanta Ly is an aspiring writer and lawyer pursuing an impact-oriented career utilizing her experience in law, policy, and advocacy to challenge anti-Black racism, equality, and organizational responsibility.

Renee White is a writer and poet working in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

Jessica Williams-Daley is an altruistic Black woman, writer and poet working in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

No One is a singer-songwriter, poet and playwright working in Montreal / Tio’tia:ke.

Deanna Smith is a poet, performer, social justice advocate, teaching artist, and 5th generation Canadian.