Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is a member of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, on the Saugeen Peninsula in Ontario. Kateri is an Assistant Professor, teaching Creative Writing, Indigenous Literatures and Oral Traditions in the English Department at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. She has taught creative writing and Indigenous literatures at the University of Manitoba, the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal Arts Program, and the En’owkin International School of Writing in partnership with the University of Victoria. Her publications encompass poetry, fiction, non-fiction, radio plays, television and film, libretti, graphic novels, and spoken word. Her teaching and creative work is firmly decolonial, a practice of cultural resurgence, affirmation and survivance. She is a recipient of a REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award for writing, her 2015 book of short stories, The Stone Collection, was a finalist for the Sarton Literary Book Awards, and her collaborative recording A Constellation of Bones was a nominee for a 2008 Canadian Aboriginal Music Award. Kateri was the 2011-2012 Poet Laureate for Owen Sound and North Grey. She founded and coordinated the first Honouring Words: International Indigenous Authors Celebration Tour in 2003 and initiated and was a co-organizer for the first Indigenous Comics Symposium in 2021. She is the founder, publisher, and art director for Kegedonce Press. (Re)Generation: The Poetry of Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, selected and edited by Dallas Hunt, was released in August 2021. She is currently completing work on a new collection of poetry and a collection of humourous short stories.

Kyle Charles is a writer/illustrator living in Edmonton, Alberta. He has drawn for several series including Roche Limit: Clandestiny and Her Infernal Descent. He has also written and illustrated short stories for publishers like Heavy Metal and OnSpec Magazine. When not busy at the drawing table, Kyle spends much of his time teaching comics to local students. He is a member of Whitefish Lake First Nation.

From Listuguj, Quebec, Brandon Mitchell is the founder of Birch Bark Comics and creator of the Sacred Circles comic series, which draws on his Mi’kmaq heritage. He has written five books with the Healthy Aboriginal Network, (Lost Innocence, Drawing Hope, River Run, Making it Right, and Emily’s Choice). Brandon has written and illustrated Jean-Paul’s Daring Adventure: Stories from Old Mobile for the University of Alabama, as well as two Mi'qmaq language-based stories for the Listuguj Education Directorate. He has also completed an art installation for Heritage and Culture New Brunswick. Brandon currently resides in Fredericton, New Brunswick.@writerbrandonmitchell

Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the southernmost edge of Ontario, learning woodcraft from his father. He and his wife Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.

Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the southernmost edge of Ontario, learning woodcraft from his father. He and his wife Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.

Jen Storm (she/her/hers) is an Ojibwe writer from Couchiching First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. She lives and raises her family, which includes her son, River, and stepson, Axel, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jen completed Deadly Loyalties, her first novel, at age fourteen and has continued writing ever since.

Internationally renowned storyteller and award-winning author Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. A graduate of the En'owkin International School of Writing, the University of Victoria's BFA in Creative Writing program and the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Richard has written over twenty-six books in just about every genre, including Little You and We Sang You Home, both beautifully illustrated by Julie Flett. He lives in Edmonton.

katherena vermette (she/her/hers) is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis Nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In 2013, her first book, North End Love Songs (The Muses’ Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Since then, her work has garnered awards and critical accolades across genres. Her novels The Break (House of Anansi) and The Strangers (Hamish Hamilton) were both national best sellers and won multiple literary awards.

She is the author of numerous other bestselling titles, including the A Girl Called Echo series (HighWater Press) and the Seven Teachings Stories series (HighWater Press).

Sonny Assu is an interdisciplinary artist whose diverse practice is informed by a deep connection to Kwakwaka’wakw art and culture and melded with
western/pop principles of art making. His work has been accepted into the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery and into various public and private collections across Canada, the US, and the UK. He currently resides in unceded Ligwiłda’xw territory (Campbell River, BC).

 

Chelsea Vowel is Metis from manitow-sakahikan (Lac Ste. Anne), Alberta, and currently residing in amiskwaciwaskihikan (Edmonton). Mother to six children, she is a writer and educator, co-host of Indigenous feminist sci-fi podcast Metis in Space, co-founder of the Metis in Space Land Trust, and author of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis & Inuit Issues in Canada.

GMB Chomichuk is an award-winning writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in film, television, books, comics and graphic novels. His most recent work with HighWater Press, Will I See?, was a collaboration with writer David A. Robertson and singer/songwriter Iskwē. He writes and/or illustrates occult suspense stories like Midnight City, science fiction works like Red Earth, or inspirational all-ages adventure stories like Cassie and Tonk. He is the host of Super Pulp Science a podcast about how genre gets made. His newest full length graphic novel Apocrypha: The Legend of Babymetal was featured on The Hollywood Reporter, The Nerdist, and Billboard Magazine.

Tara Audibert is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, cartoonist, animator, and podcaster. She owns and runs Moxy Fox Studio, where she creates her award-winning works, including the animated short film The Importance of Dreaming, comics This Place: 150 Years Retold and Lost Innocence, and “Nitap: Legends of the First Nations,” an animated storytelling app. She is of Wolastoqey/French heritage and resides in Sunny Corner, New Brunswick, Canada. You can find her online at moxyfox.ca.

Natasha Donovan (she/her/hers) is a Métis illustrator originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her sequential work has been published in This Place: 150 Years Retold, Wonderful Women of History, and Thomas King's graphic novel Borders. She is the illustrator of the award-winning Surviving the City graphic novel series and Mothers of Xsan children's book series, as well as Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer. She currently lives by the Nooksack River in Washington State. @natashamdonovan

Andrew Lodwick (he/him/his) is the illustrator of The Rebel: Gabriel Dumont and the story "Warrior Nation" in This Place: 150 Years Retold. A lifelong resident of Winnipeg, he has a BFA (Hons) from the University of Manitoba School of Art. Andrew has worked for many years at Martha Street Studio as technician, custom screen printer, and Studio Manager. He also maintains a personal art practice including printmaking and design work, as well as the Riso print collective, Parameter Press (parameter-press.com), which he co-founded in 2014.

Scott A. Ford is an award-winning comic creator, illustrator, and designer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His comic projects include Romulus + Remus, Giants’ Well, and Ark Land. His work has been featured in galleries and publications, on beer cans and book covers. He has also spoken about his artistic practice at numerous public presentations about art and design. Check out all of Scott’s art and comic projects at scottafordart.com.

Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the northernmost edge of Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic. She grew up learning traditional survival lore from her father. She and her husband Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.

Ryan Howe (he/him/his) is a Canadian cartoonist who fell in love with comics’ unique storytelling language at some point earlier than he can remember, and has been hooked ever since. He’s been collaborating with other comics creators since 2003, providing art for various projects and genres on both the web and in print.