APRIL 15-18, 2021 CURLING UP WITH A GOOD BOOK IS A FORM OF SOCIAL DISTANCING, RIGHT?

GRITLITgritlit gritlit.ca

YOUR GUIDE TO GRITLIT 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELCOME 4 ABOUT GRITLIT 5 TICKET INFORMATION 6 EVENTS & WORKSHOPS 7 SPOTLIGHT SERIES 16 FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE 18-19 MEET THE AUTHORS 20 MODERATORS & GUESTS 27 OUR SPONSORS 28

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INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO GRITLIT

For gritLIT, as for many arts organizations, this has been a live, DIY gritLIT cocktail tutorial. Registration is limited a year of change as we navigate the world of all-virtual at all workshops and interactive events, so make sure to programming. While we are looking forward to seeing sign up early. your smiling, book-loving faces again at future festivals, we are beyond grateful to have the capacity and Finally, we have devoted our closing Drafts and Drafts technology to still bring you a full weekend of dynamic reading this year to giving you an exclusive peek into events featuring some of the most exciting authors the minds of some of our amazing local authors. Grab writing in Canada today. yourself a beer, or any beverage of your choice, as I and gritLIT Board Member Anuja Varghese chat with gritLIT 2021 features panel discussions on some of the eight – yes, eight! – amazing Hamilton authors and invite most pressing concerns facing our community and our them to read from a work-in-progress. nation. From How We Talk About Grief to On Race, Politics and Property, the conversations promise to be Every year, I reserve that last paragraph of this message lively, engaging and very topical in light of issues that to thank our supporters, and never has that been more events of the past year have brought into sharp focus. important than it is now. Thank you to all the grantors As always, we also have readings from amazing fiction and sponsors whose logos you will find in this program. writers, memoirists and poets to spark your imagination It is their support that keeps the arts alive through times and help you build your own spring/summer reading list, like these. Thank you so much to our amazing gritLIT and our 2021 Spotlight Series Selector, Jael Richardson, fans, many of whom made donations to the festival has chosen two exciting new authors to be the focus of last year and who continue to support us by attending a not-to-be-missed Spotlight event on Saturday, April 17. online programs. Thank you to all the dedicated and hard-working gritLIT board members, operations team Until we can meet again in person, we have tried to members and volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you. make our online festival as interactive and hands-on as Last but never least, thank you to our bookseller, Jaime possible. Eight authors will be sharing their expertise in Krakowski, and her team at Epic Books in Hamilton. writing workshops. We have partnered with Hub of the We will miss seeing Jaime – and all of you – in the Hammer to bring you three different literary-themed gritLIT bookstore, but make sure to visit her online at games. We are running a real-time flash fiction contest, epicbooks.ca and take advantage of your gritLIT 2021 and Hamilton’s own Krista Foss, author of Smoke discount! River and the just-released Half Life, will lead a book club discussion the work of another wonderful HAPPY READING! Hamilton writer, Denise Davy (Her Name Was Margaret). And if that isn’t enough to get you excited about coming Jennifer Gillies, Artistic Director to the festival, we are inviting you all to a Saturday night after-party featuring a chance to chat about books and

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ABOUT GRITLIT

OUR MANDATE gritLIT brings the best contemporary Canadian writers to Hamilton to engage with local booklovers, to inspire and to be inspired by Hamilton authors, to promote a love of reading in young audiences and to celebrate the exchange of diverse ideas, experiences and viewpoints.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIR: Leah Faieta PAST CHAIR: Annette Hamm SECRETARY: Melanie Cummings TREASURER: Pat McKay DIRECTORS: Erin Dunham, Selena Middleton, Aurora Gutierrez-Ruiz, Maryanne Scime, Anuja Varghese

OPERATIONS TEAM

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Jennifer Gillies FESTIVAL ASSISTANT: Jennifer Rawlinson MARKETING MANAGER: Jessica Rose MARKETING TEAM: Paige Petrovsky DESIGN: Oh Sierra VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT: Diane Elliott, Lia Davis-Munro, Rachel Nowak STAGE MANAGEMENT: Joe Criger, Rachel Nowak HOSPITALITY: Yvonne Stoikos WRITING CONTEST: Elizabeth Obermeyer BOOKSELLER: Epic Books

PROGRAM ADVISORS Ann Y.K. Choi, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Annette Hamm, Nairne Holtz, Jaime Krakowski, Jamie Tennant

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS gritLIT relies on a team of dedicated volunteers to keep the festival growing. Thank you to our amazing board of directors, operations team and program advisory team for their tireless efforts throughout the year. Thank you to the community members and high school students who help out during festival weekend and at gritLIT events year-round. There would not be a festival without you!

If you are interested in volunteering with gritLIT, email [email protected]

DID YOU KNOW?

gritLIT is a registered Canadian charity. As such, the work we do would not be possible without the support and generosity of our wonderful sponsors and donors. If you would like to donate to help keep gritLIT going, please visit gritlit.ca. You can donate as a one-time-only event, or set up a monthly donation to help your local readers and writers festival continue to grow.

gritlitfestival 5 GRITLITgritlit EVENT TICKETS

Festival Pass: $25 Reading/Panel/Interview: $5 Writing Workshops (75-90 minutes): $25 (Limited Registration) Interactive and Other Special Events: Please see event descriptions

Tickets available online at gritlit.ca

4 DAYS 29 AUTHORS 30 EVENTS 8 WORKSHOPS

1 ONLINE FESTIVAL

JOIN US ONLINE, APRIL 15-18, 2021. TICKETS AND PASSES ON SALE NOW AT GRITLIT.CA 6 gritlitfestival gritlit.ca EVENT SCHEDULE

ALL EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE ONLINE VIA ZOOM.

VOICE-TO-TEXT TRANSCRIPTION WILL BE ENABLED FOR ALL EVENTS.

THURSDAY, APRIL 15

IN CONVERSATION WITH JAEL RICHARDSON AUTHOR AND 2021 GRITLIT SPOTLIGHT SERIES SELECTOR 7:00PM A dynamic presence in the Canadian book world, Jael Richardson is the artistic director of the FOLD literary festival, the books columnist on CBC Radio’s q, and an outspoken advocate on issues of diversity. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, is a dystopian story of courage and resilience set in an imagined world in which the most vulnerable are forced to buy their freedom. Join us on opening night as gritLIT Artistic Director Jennifer Gillies sits down with Richardson to talk about her writing, her role at the FOLD and her gritLIT 2021 Spotlight Series picks. special event hosted by gritLit Artistic Director Jennifer Gillies

GHOSTS FROM THE PAST 8:30PM Through absorbing tales of memory, motherhood, and forgiveness, Francesca Ekwuyasi and Krista Foss explore family stories in their most-recent offerings of fiction. InButter Honey Pig Bread, a 2021 Canada Reads finalist, Ekwuyasi shares the intergenerational saga of three Nigerian women and the choices and consequences that define them. Similarly,Half Life, the most recent novel by Hamilton’s Krista Foss, is a beautifully rendered story about family, truth and resilience. reading

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FRIDAY, APRIL 16

IN CONVERSATION WITH HAZEL JANE PLANTE 2:00PM A queer love letter steeped in desire, grief, and delight, Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante is both playful and poignant. It won a for Transgender Fiction, was a finalist for a Award (for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature), and a finalist for a BC and Yukon Book Prize. In this intimate conversation, fellow authors Nairne Holtz and talk to Plante about her debut novel.

interview with co-interviewers Nairne Holtz and Casey Plett

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 3:30PM Chaos theory postulates that a minute, localized change in a system can have enormous and unpredictable long- range consequences – like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings causing a windstorm on the other side of the world. So what would the consequences be of going back in time and changing something significant? Join novelists Dennis Bock (The Good German) and Brent van Staalduinen (Boy) as they share stories based on this intriguing, sometimes horrifying, question?

reading hosted by gritLIT Program Advisor Ann Y.K. Choi

MAKING UP PAST TIME: USING HISTORY AND PERSONAL STORIES IN LITERARY FICTION WITH GARY BARWIN 3:30PM In this interactive writing workshop, award-winning author Gary Barwin explores how to creatively engage with history and personal stories in fiction. How do writers avoid getting creatively stifled or bogged down with facts and instead learn how to use research to enliven their writing and to stimulate energizing and imaginative possibilities for what the work can be? Participants will discuss how to uncover interesting details and stories and will try out a range of writing activities employing some of the strategies.

writing workshop

THE STORY NEVER ENDS

VISIT GRITLIT.CA FOR NEWS + EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

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FLASH FICTION CONTEST 6:00PM Think you can harness your creative muse is less than one hour? Register to compete in the gritLIT 2021 Flash Fiction Contest. We will give you the prompts, and you will have 45 minutes to craft a story of no more than 500 words. The winning author will be announced at Drafts and Drafts on Sunday, April 18 and will receive a $100 gift certificate from Epic Books.

Registration is limited. Entry fee: $5

interactive

LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY 7:00PM Exploring his family’s Indigenous roots, David A. Robertson pieces together his own blood memory through prose memoir. Poets Sachiko Murakami and Bardia Sinaee take a different approach, sharing their own experiences through verse. Each deeply affecting work is a reminder that there isn’t only one way to tell a personal story.

reading hosted by gritLIT Program Advisor Shazia Hafiz Ramji

WOMEN OF STRENGTH 8:30PM Join bestselling authors Kim Echlin and Alka Joshi as they read from two astounding novels in which the resilience of women takes centre stage. In heart-wrenching tales of violence and unrealized dreams, their protagonists survive the unthinkable, calling upon their inner strength to rebuild their lives.

reading hosted by gritLIT Board Chair Leah Faieta

LITERARY TRIVIA I 8:30PM It’s time to test your literary knowledge! From speculative fiction to YA (young adult) novels to celebrity bios, gritLIT’s Literary Trivia will challenge your bookish expertise. There will be prizes for the winning team, and if you don’t have any book-loving friends, never fear. Let us know when you register, and we will assign you to a team.

Registration is limited. This is a free event.

interactive hosted by Hub Of The Hammer

VISIT GRITLIT.CA FOR NEWS + EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

gritlitfestival 9 GRITLITgritlit SATURDAY, APRIL 18

THE ROLE OF HUMOUR IN STORYTELLING WITH JANE CHRISTMAS 9:30AM Whether in fiction or in non-fiction, humour can be the nettle sting of subversion, the nudge that pivots expectation, and the yeast that makes prose rise. It can be a device to tell a sad or traumatic story — comedy’s quieter, sharper sister. Best-selling author Jane Christmas will cover the nature of humour: where to find it and how to use it. Participants will look at techniques and tricks used by the pros and then have a chance to practice writing humour into everyday scenarios. writing workshop

SPOTLIGHT AUTHORS 11:00AM Joining 2021 Spotlight Series Selector Jael Richardson on our virtual stage, Elizabeth Allua Vaah and Syrus Marcus Ware will chat about their new books and what it’s like to emerge onto Canada’s literary scene. They will also talk about their creative process and share what’s coming up for them next! panel hosted by Makda Mulatu, Podcast Producer for Edmonton’s Glass Bookshop

THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD 11:00AM How do spoken word poems differ from more traditional poetry? In this interactive workshop, 2019 Canadian individual slam champion Nisha Patel guides participants from all backgrounds and skill levels through a brief history of spoken word. Participants will engage with poems and performance videos, discuss common themes (personal and confessional) that arise in spoken word and learn techniques for bringing their writing to life on the stage. writing workshop

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: ISSUES AROUND HOMELESSNESS 12:30PM Authors Erin Dej (A Complex Exile: Homelessness and Social Exclusion in Canada) and Denise Davy (Her Name Was Margaret), along with a special guest panelist from our own Hamilton community, discuss the challenges of writing about homelessness and examine the impact of times of crisis on Canada’s homeless populations, the relationship between homelessness and mental health, and the steps that need to be taken to help the more than 235,000 Canadians recorded as homeless every year. panel hosted by Dr. Ameil Joseph from McMaster University

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POETRY: A WRITER’S TOOL WITH DALLAS HUNT 12:30PM This engaging workshop, aimed at poets and prose authors alike, shows how the ability to read and appreciate poetry is vital skill for every writer. Poet, Children’s Book Author and Professor Dallas Hunt shares some examples of traditional poetry, discussing how to think through the use of language and examining the impact of words on a page. Participants will then have an opportunity to try applying these techniques to their own writing – in whatever form it might take. writing workshop

ON RACE, POLITICS, AND PROPERTY 2:00PM In On Property, Rinaldo Walcott traces a direct line from slavery to the problems with private property ownership. Join the author for a powerful discussion about the roots of racism and the need for radical social change in Canada today. interview hosted by Kojo Damptey from the Hamilton Center for Civic Inclusion

THE GRITLIT FESTIVAL BOOK CLUB 2:00PM Last year, we were excited to bring you the first-ever gritLIT Festival Book Club, but COVID had other plans. This year it’s back, and we’ve asked Krista Foss, author of Smoke River and Half Life, to choose a 2021 gritLIT title. Join her as she leads a discussion about her chosen book, Her Name Was Margaret by Denise Davy. Registration is limited. This is a free event. interactive

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT 3:30PM What happens when our relationship with nature is distorted? Through their two novels and one collection of poetry, Amanda Leduc, Premee Mohamed, and Alessandra Naccarato examine this question, while blurring the lines of what’s real and what’s not. Join them as they read from their books and engage in a timely discussion that’s more relevant now than ever. reading

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WRITING INTO THE JOY WITH CHRISTA COUTURE 3:30PM Award-winning musician/songwriter Christa Couture already had experience sharing personal stories with an audience when she began writing what she calls her “grief bio”. The result, How to Lose Everything, is a book that a 49th Shelf interviewer called “the wisest, most delightful sad story you’ve ever read”. Join the author for a powerful discussion on how to write painful experiences as she shares steps that will help both fiction and non-fiction writers find the joy and beauty in even the most difficult stories.

writing workshop

THE LITERARY PICTURES GAME 6:00PM You don’t have to be an artist to play this game, but you will get the chance to think like one. How quickly can you translate a stick figure or line drawing into a famous book or fictional character? Join Matthew Surina and his team from Hub of the Hammer for a lively, Pictionary-style game and find out! Registration is limited. This is a free event.

interactive

HINDSIGHT 2020 7:00PM What more can we say about 2020? Well, a lot! Lauren McKeon’s book Women of the Pandemic is a riveting narrative that emphasizes women’s leadership and resilience, especially during uncertain times. Equally as timely, Moira Welsh’s Happily Ever Older: Revolutionary Approaches to Long-Term Care, challenges the status quo of managing retirement communities and long-term care. Join us for this important conversation about health care, women’s work, and aging through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.

panel hosted by gritLIT Board Member and CHCH Anchor Annette Hamm

EMBRACING THE SURREAL 8:30PM What do you get when you bring together a wild and witty book about a middle-aged Jewish man who fantasizes about being a cowboy and a horror-tinged fable about one of North America’s scariest inventions — the local mall? You’ll get a conversation with two of the country’s most inventive authors, Gary Barwin and Pasha Malla, who both just happen to live in Hamilton.

reading hosted by gritLIT Program Advisor Jamie Tennant

WHO NEEDS TRAVEL WHEN WE CAN READ BOOKS? GRITLIT.CA

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SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER-PARTY 9:30PM Join your fellow gritLIT attendees in a chat room to discuss gritLIT events, books in general or just the trials and tribulations of being a reader or writer in 2021. Hub of the Hammer will get the party started by taking you step- by-step through the preparation of a special gritLIT cocktail. We’ll send you an ingredient list before the festival, so make sure to register early!

This is a free event.

interactive

SUNDAY, APRIL 19

TWO KINDS OF QUESTS: CREATING A PLOT FOR YOUR STORY WITH KIM ECHLIN 9:30AM In the classic quest, a hero leaves home, has adventures, learns, and returns home changed. But there is another powerful quest story in which the hero or heroine leaves home, has adventures, grows, and creates a new home in a new place. In this workshop, Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist Kim Echlin will introduce participants to the two quest structures and guide them through the process of discovering which structure will work best for the stories they want to tell.

writing workshop

SHORT STORY WINNERS 11:00AM Each year, the gritLIT Short Story Contest asks writers across the country to submit their original, unpublished, short works of fiction or creative nonfiction. This year, we are thrilled to invite the winners of the contest to gritLIT’s virtual state to read from their winning entries. To learn more about the gritLIT Short Story Contest, visit gritlit.ca/contest. This is a free event.

special event hosted by Contest Judge Jenny Heijun Wills

LOOKING FOR A BOOK OR TWO? VISIT OUR BOOKSELLER, EPIC BOOKS, ONLINE AT EPICBOOKS.CA.

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WRITING GENRE FICTION WITH PREMEE MOHAMED 11:00AM As a speculative fiction author, short story writer and someone who entered traditional publishing after earning two science degrees, Premee Mohamed has unique insight into what it means to be a working author in Canada. In this workshop, the author will discuss business aspects of publishing (query letters, synopses, securing representation), look at genre expectations and offer tips to writers in any genre about how to get their books into the hands of readers. writing workshop

AUSPICIOUS DEBUTS 12:30PM Releasing a book into the world can be exciting, challenging, and, let’s face it, terrifying — especially for a debut author. In Auspicious Debuts, we’ll hear from first-time authorsDallas Hunt (Creeland), Cherie Jones (How the One- Armed Sister Sweeps Her House), and Nisha Patel (Coconut), who will read from their new books and discuss their experiences as newly published writers. reading

HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER WITH ALKA JOSHI 12:30PM Alka Joshi’s first book,The Henna Artist, landed on the bestseller lists of the NY Times, the LA Times, USA Today, the Star and , as well as being a Top 10 Indigo Book for 2020 and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. In this workshop, Alka Joshi shares all the things they don’t teach you in writing classes – the 75% of the author’s job that takes place after the first draft is written. Join the bestselling author as she discusses talking about your work, collaborating with editors and agents, identifying your genre, promoting your book and the magic of the three Ps: passion, persistence and patience. writing workshop

HOW WE TALK ABOUT GRIEF 2:00PM An all-too-familiar certainty, grief is an emotion that’s difficult for most of us to put into words. InThis Is Not the End of Me, Dakshana Bascaramurty documents the final years of a husband and father diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 33. In How to Lose Everything, Christa Couture shares her own excruciating loss, including the amputation of her leg as a cure for bone cancer and the death of two children. Join the authors as they discuss the challenges of talking/writing about grief and how the process of doing so helps with healing. panel hosted by C. Elizabeth Dougherty from the 100% Certainty Project

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LITERARY TRIVIA II 2:00PM In this second of two literary trivia events, gritLIT continues to test your knowledge on bookish themes — from classic novels to books on film to non-fiction bestsellers. As always, there will be prizes for the winning team, and you can let us know when you register if you are signing up as a team or if you want to be assigned to one.

Registration is limited. This is a free event. interactive hosted by Hub of the Hammer

DRAFTS AND DRAFTS 3:30PM Each year, gritLIT closes the festival by inviting guest authors to share a never-before-read piece of writing with our audience. This year, our popular Drafts & Drafts event will feature readings by Hamilton authors as they share an exclusive glimpse into a work in progress and discuss their city, their inspirations and what’s next for them. Grab a beer – or the beverage of your choice – sit back and enjoy what promises to be a very lively conversation. Featuring Gary Barwin, Jane Christmas, Denise Davy, Krista Foss, Dallas Hunt, Amanda Leduc, Pasha Malla and Brent Van Staalduinen.

This is a free event. special event co-hosted by gritLIT Artistic Director Jennifer Gillies and board member Anuja Varghese

DO YOU LOVE WEBSITES AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE BOOKS?

GRITLIT.CA IS YOUR GO-TO DESTINATION FOR FESTIVAL TICKETS, NEWS, AND EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FROM #HAMONT WRITERS.

gritlitfestival 15 GRITLITgritlit SPOTLIGHT SERIES

GRITLIT IS HONOURED TO WELCOME ELIZABETH ALLUA VAAH AND SYRUS MARCUS WARE, THE 2021 SPOTLIGHT SERIES AUTHORS, TO THE FESTIVAL!

The Spotlight Series allows an established Canadian author to help shine a light on the work of emerging writers by nominating them to read at the festival. This year’s Spotlight Series selector, Jael Richardson, has chosen two extraordinary, up-and-coming authors as her Spotlight Series picks.

Here is what Jael Richardson had to say about her choices:

ELIZABETH ALLUA VAAH SYRUS MARCUS WARE MAAME UNTIL WE ARE FREE

“Syrus Marcus Ware and Elizabeth Vaah are important voices in Canada’s literary scene. They have taken journeys in life and through their writing that are different than my own journey, and I’m curious about their stories. I was introduced to Syrus’ work last year, and was fascinated by their skill as a visual artist and their work as a writer and how those mediums work together. Elizabeth Vaah is a new voice with a new book that connects readers with Ghanaian culture, a country I have a personal connection to, a place I’ve always longed to go. I think it’s difficult for Black writers to receive the recognition they deserve, especially with their first books and I wanted the chance to hear about their journey through publishing and their plans for the future.”

See Jael Richardson in conversation with gritLIT Artistic Director Jennifer Gillies, on opening night, Thursday, April 15. Then hear from the Spotlight Series authors on Saturday, April 17 at 11:00 AM.

16 gritlitfestival CALLING ALL BIBLIOPHILES

As a registered charity, gritLIT relies on the hard work of a team of dedicated volunteers to keep the festival growing year after year.

If you are interested in volunteering with gritLIT, please visit gritlit.ca or email [email protected]

GRITLITgritlit SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE STORIES HAVE 140 CHARACTERS

Be the first to hear about short story contest updates, special events and upcoming programming.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @gritlitfestival.

And if you’re social too, don’t forget to tag your posts with #gritlit2021. GRITLITgritlit

GRITLIT AT A GLANCE

A DAY-BY-DAY OVERVIEW OF OUR 2021 FESTIVAL.

THURSDAY, APRIL 15 FRIDAY, APRIL 16

2:00pm IN CONVERSATION WITH HAZEL JANE PLANTE Interview | p. 8

3:30pm THE BUTTERFLY MAKING UP PAST EFFECT TIME Reading | p. 8 Writing Workshop | p. 8

6:00pm FLASH FICTION CONTEST Interactive | p. 9

7:00pm LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY Reading | p. 9 7:00pm IN CONVERSATION WITH 6:00pm JAEL RICHARDSON WOMEN OF STRENGTH Special Event | p. 7 Reading | p. 9

8:30pm 8:30pm GHOSTS FROM THE PAST LITERARY TRIVIA I Reading | p. 7 Interactive | p. 9

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SATURDAY, APRIL 17 SUNDAY, APRIL 18

9:30am 9:30am THE ROLE OF HUMOUR CREATING A PLOT FOR IN STORYTELLING YOUR STORY Writing Workshop | p. 10 Writing Workshop | p. 13

11:00am 11:00am THE SPOTLIGHT THE POWER OF THE SHORT STORY WRITING GENRE AUTHORS SPOKEN WORD WINNERS FICTION Panel | p. 10 Writing Workshop | p. 10 Reading | p. 13 Writing Workshop | p. 14

12:30pm 12:30pm NO PLACE LIKE POETRY: A WRITER’S AUSPICIOUS DEBUTS HOW TO WRITE A HOME TOOL Reading | p. 14 BESTSELLER Panel | p. 10 Writing Workshop | p. 11 Writing Workshop | p. 14

2:00pm 2:00pm ON RACE, POLITICS THE GRITLIT FESTIVAL HOW WE TALK LITERARY TRIVIA II AND PROPERTY BOOK CLUB ABOUT GRIEF Interactive | p. 15 Interview | p. 11 Interactive | p. 11 Panel | p. 14

3:30pm 3:30pm THE END OF THE WRITING INTO DRAFTS AND DRAFTS WORLD AS WE KNOW IT THE JOY Special Event | p. 15 Reading | p. 11 Writing Workshop | p. 12

6:00pm THE LITERARY PICTURES GAME Interactive | p. 12

7:00pm HINDSIGHT 2020 Panel | p. 12

7:30pm EMBRACING THE SURREAL Reading | p. 12

9:00pm SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER-PARTY Interactive | p. 13 gritlitfestival 19 GRITLITgritlit MEET THE AUTHORS

GARY BARWIN GARY BARWIN is a writer, composer, and multidisciplinary artist and the author of twenty-three books of poetry, fiction and books for children. His recent national bestselling novel, Yiddish for Pirates, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour as well as the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and the Hamilton Literary Award. It was also a finalist for both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction. For It Is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe: New and Selected Poems was also recently published to much acclaim. A PhD in music composition, Barwin has taught creative writing at a number of colleges and universities. His prose and poetry has been published in hundreds of magazine and journals internationally--from Reader’s Digest to Granta CREDIT: ADELA TALBOT and the Walrus. Born in Northern Ireland to South African parents of Ashkenazi descent, Barwin lives in Hamilton, .

DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY is a reporter for the Globe and Mail, who has won a National Newspaper Award and a Digital Publishing Award for her writing. Her work has appeared in the , the Ottawa Citizen, and on CBC. This is her first book.

CREDIT: JENNA MARIE WAKANI

DENNIS BOCK DENNIS BOCK’s book of stories, Olympia, won the CAA Jubilee Award, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Betty Trask Award. His novels include The Communist’s Daughter and The Ash Garden, a #1 bestseller, a winner of the Canada-Japan Literary Award and a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Kiriyama Prize and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. His novel, Going Home Again, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Dennis Bock lives in Toronto. CREDIT: DEREK SHAPTON

JANE CHRISTMAS JANE CHRISTMAS is the author of five bestselling memoirs:The Pelee Project, What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim, Incontinent on the Continent, And Then There Were Nuns, and her latest, Open House: A Life in Thirty-two Moves. Her books have been published in Canada, US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Germany. In 2012, she moved to England, where she now lives.

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CHRISTA COUTURE CHRISTA COUTURE is an award-winning performing and recording artist, writer and broadcaster. She is also proudly Indigenous (mixed Cree and Scandinavian), queer, and a mom. Her seventh album Safe Harbour was released on Coax Records in 2020. As a writer and storyteller, she has been published in Room, Shameless, and Augur magazines, and on cbc.ca. In 2018, her CBC article and photos on disability and pregnancy went viral. Couture is a frequent contributor to CBC Radio and is currently the weekday afternoon host on 106.5 elmnt fm in Toronto. Couture lived for many years in Vancouver, BC, but now CREDIT: JEN SQUIRES calls Toronto home. How to Lose Everything (Douglas & McIntyre) is her first book.

DENISE DAVY DENISE DAVY is a nationally recognized, award-winning journalist who specializes in writing about mental health, homelessness and gender issues. She worked at the Hamilton Spectator for twenty-six years, was twice honoured with the Journalist of the Year award by the Ontario Newspaper Association and is a recipient of a National Newspaper Award, several Ontario Newspaper Association awards and two awards from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. In 1993, the Canadian Association of Journalists awarded her for co-founding the National Women in the Media conference. She is the recipient of four national journalism fellowships, which allowed her to investigate child prostitution in Thailand, poverty in India and the crisis in children’s mental health services in Canada. She is founder of Purses for Margaret, which provides toiletries to homeless women. She lives in Burlington, ON.

ERIN DEJ

ERIN DEJ is an assistant professor of criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, where she co- authored A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention with Stephen Gaetz, and she is the co-editor of Containing Madness: Gender and ‘Psy’ in Institutional Contexts with Jennifer M. Kilty.

KIM ECHLIN KIM ECHLIN’s novels include Elephant Winter, Dagmar’s Daughter, , Under the Visible Life and The Disappeared, which was translated into 20 languages, won the Barnes and Noble award and was short-listed for the Giller Prize. Her new novel is Speak, Silence. She has been a documentary-maker, editor and teacher, and has lived and travelled around the world. She currently teaches at the ’s School of Continuing Studies and for the Vermont College MFA program in Creative Writing and was formerly Writer in Residence at McMaster University and the Hamilton Public Library.

FRANCESCA EKWUYASI FRANCESCA EKWUYASI is a writer, artist, and filmmaker born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, consumption, loneliness, and belonging. Her writing has been published in Winter Tangerine Review, Brittle Paper, Transition Magazine, the Malahat Review, Visual Art News, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and GUTS magazine. Her story “Orun is Heaven” was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize. Butter Honey Pig Bread, longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a finalist for Canada Reads 2021, is her first novel. CREDIT: MO PHUNG gritlitfestival 21 GRITLITgritlit

KRISTA FOSS KRISTA FOSS’s short fiction has appeared inGranta and has twice been a finalist for the Journey Prize. Her first novel,Smoke River, won the Hamilton Literary Award. She’s an award-winning essayist who has worked as a bartender, journalist, and teacher. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

DALLAS HUNT DALLAS HUNT is Cree and a member of Wapsewsipi (Swan River First Nation) in Treaty Eight territory in northern Alberta. He has had creative worked published in Contemporary Verse 2, Prairie Fire, PRISM international and Arc Poetry. His first children’s book, Awâsis and the World-famous Bannock, was published through Highwater Press in 2018, and was nominated for several awards. Hunt is an assistant professor of Indigenous literatures at the University of British Columbia.

CHERIE JONES CHERIE JONES was born in Barbados in 1974. A graduate of the MA program at Sheffield Hallam University, she was awarded a fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. Her short fiction has been published inPANK , Reflex Fiction and the Feminist Wire.

CREDIT: BROOKS LATOUCHE PHOTOGRAPHY

ALKA JOSHI Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, ALKA JOSHI has lived in the U.S. since the age of nine. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, became a NYT bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, an LA Times bestseller, a USA Today bestseller, Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a top 10 Goodreads book of 2020, and is being developed for an episodic TV series starring Freida Pinto. The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, will be available in June 2021 from Mira Books. Currently, she’s working on the third book of the trilogy. Alka interviews extraordinary female writers, editors and filmmakers on her Instagram @thealkajoshi and shares her writing tips on her YouTube Channel. She has a CREDIT: GARRY BAILEY BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of the Arts.

AMANDA LEDUC AMANDA LEDUC’s essays and stories have appeared in publications across Canada, the US and the UK. She is the author of the non-fiction bookDisfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space (Coach House Books, 2020) and the novel The Miracles of Ordinary Men (2013, ECW Press). She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where she works as the Communications Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories. CREDIT: TREVOR COLE

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PASHA MALLA PASHA MALLA is the author of five works of poetry and fiction, including the story collection The Withdrawal Method and the novel People Park. His fiction has won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Trillium Book Prize, an Arthur Ellis Award and several National Magazine awards. It has also been shortlisted for the Amazon.ca Best First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Prize, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Pasha Malla lives in Hamilton.

LAUREN MCKEON LAUREN MCKEON is deputy editor of Reader’s Digest Canada and the author of two books, F-Bomb and No More Nice Girls. Formerly the digital editor at The Walrus and the editor of This Magazine, her feature work has been recognized several times at the National Magazine Awards, including four honourable mentions, one silver, and a gold in the personal journalism category. She has taught long-form writing at Humber College and has an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from the University of King’s College. Her work has appeared in the anthologies Whatever Gets You Through and Best Canadian Essays, CREDIT: YULI SCHEIDT and in , Chatelaine, Hazlitt, and The Walrus. She lives in Toronto.

PREMEE MOHAMED PREMEE MOHAMED is an Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is a Social Media Manager and Associate Editor for the short audio science fiction venue Escape Pod, and was a Capital City Press Featured Writer for 2019/2020 with the Edmonton Public Library. Her guest editing positions have included Interstellar Flight Press and Apparition Lit. Her short fiction has appeared in both print and audio venues including Analog, Escape Pod, Augur, Nightmare Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, and PodCastle. Solicited appearances include Drabblecast, A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods, and Jo Walton’s New Decameron. In 2017 she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her story ‘Willing’ (Third Flatiron Press). Her debut novel, ‘Beneath the Rising,’ is out now from Solaris Books, with the sequel ‘A Broken Darkness’ due out in 2021. Other books due out in 2021 include ‘These Lifeless Things’ (Solaris Satellites), ‘And What Can We Offer You Tonight’ (Neon Hemlock), and ‘The Annual Migration of Clouds’ (ECW Press). In her spare time, she also paints and occasionally does pen and ink illustration. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @premeesaurus and on her website at www.premeemohamed.com.

SACHIKO MURAKAMI SACHIKO MURAKAMI is the author of four poetry collections, including The Invisibility Exhibit (shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award) and her latest, Render. As a literary worker, she has edited poetry, worked for trade organizations, hosted reading series, organized conferences, sat on juries, and judged prizes. She lives in Toronto.

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ALESSANDRA NACCARATO ALESSANDRA NACCARATO is the recipient of the 2015 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers and the winner of the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize. A two-time finalist forArc Magazine’s Poem of Year and the Edna Steabler Personal Essay Prize, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and has toured nationally and internationally as a spoken word artist. She is based between Toronto, Ontario and Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Re-Origin of Species is debut poetry collection. A collection of essays is forthcoming from Book*hug Press.sold in fifteen countries and was aGlobe CREDIT: JACKLYN ATLAS and Mail Bestseller.

NISHA PATEL NISHA PATEL is a queer spoken word poet and artist. She is the City of Edmonton’s 8th Poet Laureate and the 2019 Canadian Individual Slam Champion. She is a prominent organizer and community builder, having worked with festivals across Canada, participating in both the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the Canadian Individual Slam Championship. Her chapbooks, Limited Success, Water, and I See You have reached audiences around the world with their discussions of family and grief, racism, and feminism. Over the years, Nisha has led many workshops and performed from small town Moose Jaw to metropolitan Seoul, South Korea over the course of four national and international tours. With nearly 200 performances to date, Nisha is committed to furthering her goals of reaching audiences that need it and the pursuit of excellence in spoken word. To that end, she has self-started community-focused residencies and mentored poets from multiple disciplines, curated showcases, taught performance and writing, and worked within new genres. In 2019, she co-founded a national queer femme South Asian artist collective, Maza Arts, and co-founded Moon Jelly House, a publishing house centring the work of marginalized poets.

HAZEL JANE PLANTE HAZEL JANE PLANTE is a librarian, cat photographer, and writer. Her debut novel Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) (Metonymy Press, 2019) was given a Lambda Literary award for trans fiction. She also releases music under the name lo-fi lioness and helms the podcast t4t, which is about writing while trans.

JAEL RICHARDSON JAEL RICHARDSON is the executive director of the FOLD literary festival, the books columnist on CBC Radio’s q and an outspoken advocate on issues of diversity. She is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The memoir received a CBC Bookie Award, an Arts Acclaim Award and a My People Award. A children’s edition was published by Groundwood Books. Her essay “Conception” is part of Room’s first Women of Colour edition, and excerpts from her first play, my upside down black face, appear in the anthology T-Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto’s Black Storytellers. Jael Richardson CREDIT: SIMON REMARK received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph. She lives in Brampton, Ontario.

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DAVID A. ROBERTSON DAVID A. ROBERTSON is the winner of the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award, Governor General’s Literary Award, the Beatrice Mosionier Indigenous Writer of the Year Award and the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Writer. His books include When We Were Alone, which won the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award and was nominated for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. A sought- after speaker and educator, David is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation and currently lives in . His latest books are a middle-grade fantasy novel, The Barren Grounds (Tundra Books), and the memoir, Black Water (HarperCollins Canada).

BARDIA SINAEE BARDIA SINAEE was born in Tehran, Iran, and currently lives in Toronto. His poems have appeared in magazines across Canada and in several editions of Best Canadian Poetry. He holds an MFA from the University of Guelph, where he was nominated for the Governor General’s Gold Medal. His first book isIntruder (Anansi, 2021).

BRENT VAN STAALDUINEN BRENT VAN STAALDUINEN is an award-winning short story writer and the author of the adult novels Saints, Unexpected and Boy and the young adult novel Nothing but Life. A former tree planter, army medic, radio host, and high school English teacher, Brent now finds himself looking for stories and working at the local public library. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

RINALDO WALCOTT RINALDO WALCOTT is a Professor in the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. His research is in the area of Black Diaspora Cultural Studies, gender and sexuality.

CREDIT: ABDI OSMAN

SYRUS MARCUS WARE SYRUS MARCUS WARE is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University. He is a cofounder of Black Lives Matter-Canada, and is a core team member of Black Lives Matter Toronto. Syrus is a Vanier Scholar, a facilitator and designer for the Banff Centre, and an award- winning artist and educator.

CREDIT: JALANI MORGAN

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MOIRA WELSH MOIRA WELSH is an investigative journalist with the Toronto Star, Moira has co-authored investigations that have won three National Newspaper Awards and a Michener Award for Public Service Journalism. She was a finalist for the Justicia Award for Legal Reporting and the Canadian Hillman Prize. She started as a breaking news reporter and soon joined the investigative team where she has written on social justice, the environment, and the lives of people living in seniors’ homes. Moira lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her family.

ELIZABETH ALLUA VAAH ELIZABETH ALLUA VAAH hails from Bakanta, a village on the western coast of Ghana. She was the first in her family to attend high school, and one of the first few girls in her village to go to university. Maame is her first work of fiction. Allua is an advocate for better maternal health through her foundation, the Vaah Junior Foundation, and a strong advocate for girl’s education, always using her own life story as an example. She works as a risk manager in a major bank and lives in Brampton, Ontario.

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KOJO DAMPTEY (On Race, Property and Politics) KOJO DAMPTEY is an interdisciplinary scholar practitioner, musician and decolonial advocate. His work revolves around communication, music, African culture, African politics, International Development and social movements. He is the Interim Executive Director for the Hamilton Centre of Civic Inclusion.

C. ELIZABETH DOUGHERTY (How We Talk About Grief) C. ELIZABETH DOUGHERTY is a social worker and educator with extensive experience supporting children, youth and adults facing serious illness, uncertainty and grief. After specializing in Palliative Care at the largest cancer treatment centre in Canada, she started a community-based practice supporting individuals and families of all ages facing complex illness. Elizabeth is honoured to be a Partner with the Children and Youth Grief Network and an Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) with the Department of Family Medicine, Division of Palliative Care at McMaster University.

DR. AMEIL JOSEPH (On Race, Property and Politics) AMEIL JOSEPH is an associate professor in the Social Sciences Department at McMaster University. He had published numerous articles and book chapters in research areas including mental health, critical race theory and postcolonial theory. He is also the author of two books: Deportation and the Confluence of Violence within Forensic Mental Health and Immigration Systems (2015) and Social Services, Big Data and the Overseers of Violence - Cultivated on the Plantations of Human Suffering (forthcoming).

MAKDA MULATU (Spotlight Authors) MAKDA MULATU is a writer, editor, and podcast producer living on Treaty 6 territory in amiskwacîwâskahikan or Edmonton, Alberta. She writes mostly poetry — which has previously appeared in “Glass Buffalo” — and, alongside Jason Purcell, she co-produces the podcast “Glass Bookshop Radio”.

CASEY PLETT (In Conversation with Hazel Jane Plante) CASEY PLETT is the author of the novel Little Fish and the short story collection A Safe Girl to Love. She is the winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Best Transgender Fiction and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and she received an Honour of Distinction from The Writers’ Trust of Canada’s for grit LGBTQ Emerging Writers. She lives in Windsor, Ontario. lit GET THE GRIT (AND THE LIT) AVAILABLE AT GRITLIT.CA TICKETS ON SALE NOW

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