Sharon Thesen:  has published ten books of poetry, most recently Oyama Pink Shale (Anansi) and The Receiver (New Star). Her edited works include the lengthy correspondence between American poet Charles Olson and book designer Frances Boldereff and two editions of a Canadian long poem anthology.  She lives and writes in Lake Country, B.C. where she teaches poetry workshops and is Professor Emeritus  of Creative Writing at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Carolyn Smart:  has written seven collections of poetry including Careen, Hooked, and The Way to Come Home, as well as a memoir of her childhood: At the End of the Day. She is the founder of the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, poetry editor for McGill–Queen’s Press, and since 1989 has taught Creative Writing at Queen’s University. Her two most recent collections of poetry have become award–winning theatre pieces, performed across Canada and in the U.K.

Armand Garnet Ruffo:  his poetry is influenced by his Ojibwe heritage. His latest book of poetry is The Thunderbird Poems (Harbour, 2015). A new collection of poetry, Treaty #, is forthcoming from Wolsak & Wynn in 2019. His writing has appeared in ARC Poetry, GRANTA: Canada issue, Poetry Ireland Review, EVENT, The Best of Canadian Poetry and 150, Canada’s History in Poetry (Nimbus Publishing, 2018). He is currently co–editing An Anthology of Indigenous Literature in Canada for Oxford U Press. The recipient of an Honorary Life Member Award from The League of Canadian Poets, he is currently the Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Literature at Queen’s University in Kingston.   

Sandra Ridley:  is the author of four books of poetry: Fallout, Post–Apothecary, The Counting House, and Silvija (a finalist for the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize). In the summer of 2019, she will be returning as a poetry instructor at the Sage  Hill Writing Experience in Saskatchewan.