Hoda Adra writes, draws, and makes experimental videos. In 2014, she was an artist in residence at the Banff Centre’s Spoken Word program. Hoda was born in Lebanon but grew up in Saudi Arabia – her home is Montreal. Read Adra’s prose on homelessness, and childhood
Nahomi Amberber is finishing up her B.Sc in Microbiology at McGill University. She likes to write things that are real to her and credits any literary skills to the books of her childhood (of which there were many).
Manahil Bandukwala is a writer and artist currently living in Ottawa. She is an editor for In/Words Magazine, and her work has appeared in Bywords, In/Words, and Existere.
Martha Batiz was born and raised in Mexico City, but has been living in Toronto since 2003. Her newest book, which is also her first short-story collection in English, is called Plaza Requiem (Exile Editions, November 2017).
Jessica Bebenek is a poet and writer currently pursuing an MA at Concordia University. Her work appears in Prairie Fire, CV2, and Grain, among other places. She has written three chapbooks, most recently Kettle Song. www.jessicabebenek.com. Read Jessica’s poem on selfies and self-value
Jeff Blackman grew up in Thornhill, Ontario—a very safe place. Visit http://jeffblackman.blog for more poems.
Sarah Christina Brown is a recent graduate of Concordia’s Creative Writing MA. Her work has appeared in EVENT, Room, Lunch Ticket, and emerge anthology. She grew up in BC’s Fraser Valley and now writes from Montreal. Read Brown’s prose on fear of flight.
Boris But, an English and International Development student at McGill. He writes when he is busy and procrastinates for nothing. He counts coffee spoons, plays the ukelele whilst singing, takes long walks in the rain, and instantly regrets his life decisions. Read But’s poetry on the refugee crisis
Taisha Cayard is a Social Services Student at Dawson College who has recently found interest in writing poetry. She loves to sing and to socialize.
Lily Chang writes, edits, and pays rent and hydro in Montreal. She is an MA student in Creative Writing at Concordia University. Read Chang’s poetry on race and tigers
Alden Chorush, who has fluctuated between accident and purpose, asking himself if it’s worse to die of heart failure or to live with it. Read Alden’s words on running away from home
Jerry Corvil was born in Canada but raised in Haiti. He lost his house in a hurricane when he was young, so he came to Canada with his family and then lost his father a couple years later. He battled with depression in high school and part of his college years, but poetry and writing helped him to channel his emotions and control his anger and sadness. He’s a thinker and a very sociable character. He sees knowledge and ideas in every conversation no matter how deep and thoughtful they are. Everyone you meet is either a blessing or a lesson; he always tries to be a blessing to someone else’s life.
Hannah Chubb, a sociology / psychology / communications student at McGill University in the breathtaking city of Montreal. She is inspired to get out of bed each morning by the fear of being average.
Cora-Lee Conway, a Doctoral Student in the Faculty of Education and a Residence Life Manager at McGill University. She enjoys walking her dog (more so in the summer) and sings in a gospel choir. Read Conway’s work on miscarriage, labour and motherhood, and more
Francine Cunningham is a Canadian Indigenous writer, artist and educator. Her creative non-fiction has appeared in The Malahat Review, and the anthology Boobs: Women Explore What It Means to Have Breasts published by Caitlin Press. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in The Puritan, Echolocation Magazine, Hamilton Arts and Letters, The Maynard and more. She is a graduate of the UBC Creative Writing MFA program. You can find more about her at www.francinecunningham.ca.
Ruth Daniell is a writer and the editor of Boobs: Women Explore What It Means to Have Breasts (Caitlin Press, 2016). Her work has appeared in Arc, CV2, Event, Grain, and Room Magazine. Recent honours include the receipt of a Canada Council for the Arts grant and first prize in the 2016 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest with The New Quarterly. She lives with her family in Kelowna, BC.
Oumy Dembele is a script-writing graduate and Professional Theater student from France. Her writing is interested in the particulars of individual scenes. She recently challenged herself to write prose in English.
Josh Elyea, from Orillia, Ontario. He’s got a soft spot for rock & roll b-sides, bourbon and bad manners. Read Elyea’s prose on #alllivesmatter
David Emery was born in Peterborough, Ontario and grew up to be an editor with a Master’s degree in English. He is the editor of a hibernating online magazine called The Steel Chisel and a member of an awake writers’ collective called The Yard. He pays rent in Toronto, where he spends more of his time watching movies.
Erin Flegg is a semi-nomadic writer and journalist living between Coast Salish and St’at’imc territories (Vancouver and Lillooet). Her poetry, prose and reporting has appeared in VICE Canada, The Toast, Poetry is Dead, Canadian Dimension and others.
David Fleming is a poet and fiction writer from Philadelphia. After passing a decade in Halifax, NS he recently moved to Montreal, where he quickly learned to ride the metro and navigate underground tunnels. He’s worked with the generous support of Nova Scotia Talent Trust, and previously published in The Impressment Gang and Everything Is So Political.
Kyle Flemmer recently graduated from Concordia University with a double-major in Western Society & Culture and Creative Writing. He is the author of five chapbooks and founded The Blasted Tree Publishing Company in 2014.
Sam Fresco, from London, England. By day, Sam runs a small UK tech start up. By night, Sam writes for London based student magazine ‘Whats Up Whats On’ as their Tech Editor, drums in indie-blues band CoalFace and cooks distinctly average food.
Pete Gibbon is a Canadian poet. His previous chapbook, “Eating Thistles” was published by Apt. 9 Press (Ottawa) in 2010. He is also the author of an ongoing limited series of graphic fiction about the life of Canadian author Marian Engel with friend / poet / illustrator Tanya Decarie. His most recent publication was called “Conditionals” & is now available through Peterborough’s bird, buried press.
Jess Glavina grew up on Coast Salish territory in BC and now resides in Montreal.
Jiliane Golczyk is originally from Red Deer, Alberta, but has lived in Belgium, Chile and Turkey. She will be beginning her Master’s in International Affairs at Sciences Po this fall.
Jacob Goldberg, who studies English and philosophy at McGill University in Montreal. His passions include writing, reading, baseball, rapping, and ping-pong.
Jess Goldson is a fourth year student earning her B.A. in Psychology. She studied theater performance for four years and has recently started writing for pleasure and for purpose. Beyoncé is extremely important to her.
Charles Gonsalves, who has just completed his first year at Concordia University, pursuing a double major in English Literature and Western Society & Culture. Charles was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1997. His turbulent experience with Canadian Immigration – which did not recognize him as a landed person in Canada until last winter – informs his interest in the politics of space and identity. Read Gonsalves’ words on colonialism in Edmonton
Keah Hansen is studying English Literature and Political Science at McGill University. She loves writing, getting into nature and exploring new mediums of creativity- currently swing dance and guitar. Read Hansen’s prose on dealing with trauma
Sean M. Hogan is a Philadelphia based writer who is excited to be working with Word and Colour. Sean believes it is his obligation as a writer to create works that show the true diversity of life, rather than regurgitate the accepted norms.
Eileen Mary Holowka, an editor, writer, and master’s student at Concordia University. Her creative writing has been published in Contemporary Verse 2, Lemon Hound, Little Fiction, Headlight, and now Word and Colour. In her spare time, she makes music and games. Read Holowka’s writing about reclaiming space
Shagufe Hossain is an MA student in Education and Society at McGill University. A believer, an imaginist, eternally curious, obsessive compulsive, and a hopeless idealist, she identifies herself as a Social Inclusion Activist. She is a sometimes-writer who doodles and paints when she runs out of words to express her thoughts.
Leah Horlick is the author of two books of poetry — Riot Lung (Thistledown Press, 2012), and For Your Own Good (Caitlin Press, 2015), which was named a Stonewall Honor Title by the American Library Association. She was recently awarded the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBT Writers. She lives on Unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver, but Saskatoon will always be home.
Tariq Hussain is a writer, songwriter and recording artist based in Vancouver. He has released four full-length albums under his own name, most recently an EP entitled The Moonwalker EP, and is now set to release a new collection of songs in 2017. He is also part of the six-piece experimental rock band, Brasstronaut, a collaborative project that has received attention and accolades both in Canada and in Europe. He is currently working on a a memoir about growing up as a first generation Canadian with dreams of playing in a rock n’ roll band.
Chidera Ihejirika is a proud Nigerian Canadian in her second year at McGill University. She is an admirer of Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie and a lover of storytelling, dance and hiphop.
Jenna Jarvis is a writer whose poetry has appeared in such publications as sea foam, the Puritan, and Keep This Bag Away From Children. Her poem “syndical not synecdochal” secured an honourable mention for the Puritan’s 2014 Thomas Morton Prize. In 2012, she won Bywords.ca’s John Newlove Award.
Michelle Kelm is a writer from Vancouver, Canada. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing at UBC and is working on a collection of flash fiction and prose poetry.
Charlotte Joyce Kidd, who currently lives in Toronto, ON. She has a blog. Her writing style is a compromise between her need to shock and her desire to not offend her Nona, who is a devoted reader.
Nailah King is a member of the Room editorial collective. She is also a writer, avid reader, and blogger. A UBC alumnae, she is currently working on completing a thus far untitled manuscript in prose fiction.
Liam Lachance, whose ability to study is supported by the 2016 Lynne Kassie and Issie Weisglass Graduate Scholarship in Creative Writing.
Samantha Lapierre writes, edits, and cries in Toronto. Her photography appeared in waving usufruct (Steel Chisel, 2016), a photography/poetry collaboration with David Emery and Marilyn Irwin. She has written for Sports Illustrated, Torontoist, and Aesthetic Magazine. Be her friend on Twitter @samanthamarg and visit her website samanthalapierre.ca.
Alex Leslie is the author of 20 Objects for the New World (Nomados, 2011), People Who Disappear (Freehand, 2012), The things I heard about you (Nightwood, 2014) and Vancouver for Beginners (BookThug, forthcoming). Alex’s fiction is included in the 2016 Journey Prize anthology (McClelland & Stewart). Website: alexleslie.wordpress.com
Khatira Mahdavi is an Afghan Canadian poet who is currently studying Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at McGill University.
Sandy Martin is a writer and songwriter from Waterloo, Ont, whose work has been published in Occassus and EVENT. He now resides in Montreal, where he is completing an MA in Creative Writing at Concordia. His interests include lettuce. Read Martin’s prose on weddings and masculinity
Ilona Martonfi is a Montréal author of three poetry books, Blue Poppy (Coracle, 2009), Black Grass (Broken Rules, 2012), and The Snow Kimono (Inanna, 2015). Forthcoming is Salt Bride (Inanna, 2019). Founder/artistic director Yellow Door and Visual Arts Centre Readings. QWF 2010 Community Award. Read Martonfi`’s poem on mental health and survival
Alisha Mascarenhas, who works from a place of curiosity, seeking to document what can be made legible as the words emerge to reveal all kinds of secrets and surprises. Born near the ocean in BC, she now lives in Montréal. If you are hungry, visit poetryandbreakfast.wordpress.com. Read Alisha’s prose on heteronormativity and high school, and more!
Grant McLaughlin, who mostly hammers away at writing comics at Thought Balloons, The Thought Wrangler, and elsewhere. He’s originally from Winnipeg, but now calls Ottawa home.
Laura Helen McPhee-Browne, a writer and social worker from Melbourne, Australia. Read McPhee-Browne’s prose on sexual abuse, and more
Ajay Mehra is a writer and comedian from Toronto.
Justin Million is the founder and co-curator of the Show and Tell Poetry Series, and the co-editor and mouthpiece of bird, buried press, both based in Peterborough, ON. Million’s work has appeared in Poetry Is Dead, ottawater, The Steel Chisel, and In/Words Magazine, three chapbooks with Ottawa’s Apt. 9 Press, three collaborative books with Jeff Blackman from They Don’t All Need To Be Winners Press, and a number of other Canadian small press poetry ventures.
Natalie Morrill lives in Ontario. Her fiction and poetry have been published in Canadian
literary journals and included in The Journey Prize Stories, and her first novel is forthcoming from HarperCollins Canada in Spring 2018.
Finn Purcell is (still) finishing an MA in English at Concordia University. In 2012, they founded Spectra, a queer literary journal with a focus on intersectionality, and have since served as editor for Soliloquies Anthology and Headlight. Their own creative work has been previously published in Subversions, as well as a UK zine whose name they can’t currently recall. Their Libra Sun makes them indecisive, their Cancer Moon makes them overemotional, and their Scorpio Rising makes them intuitive but aloof (apparently).
Annie Rubin, who is working towards a double major in Spanish and Russian at McGill, with a minor in International Relations, and enjoys writing about the experience of being a college student. When she’s not in class, Annie also enjoys baking cookies, drinking coffee, and playing guitar. Read Rubin’s work on identity and the effects of medication, and more
Kate Shaw is a self-diagnosed writer who doesn’t do it nearly enough to merit the title. She prefers to consider her need for coffee less of an addiction and more of an involuntary appreciation of the finer things in life, and she shamelessly loves showtunes.
Alexandra Sheffield, who was born in London, England, and has lived around the world; currently living the student life in Montreal. Aspiring conflict photo-journalist and human rights journalist, Alexandra confesses escapism within hobbyist painting and creative writing. Read Sheffield’s work on vulnerability
Rachael Simpson‘s poetry has appeared in Canada and the United States. She lives in Ottawa.
jesslyn delia smith lives in Ottawa, ON. poetry can be found on her blog at www.jesslyndelia.com, or you can follow her on twitter @jlyndelia.
Caitlyn Spencer, colloquially known as Igpy Kin, who just finished her MA in Creative Writing at Concordia. The co-founder of Concordia Write Nights, she is fond of self-deprecation, glitter, and juggling too many commitments in the dead of night. She has one cat, but it’s a long-distance relationship. Read Spencer’s work on self-harm
Stephan Enasni Sunz is a student by day and a poetry writer at night. He studies linguistics at Concordia and writes to temporarily escape from reality.
Tristen Sutherland studies English Literature and Political Science at McGill. When she’s not writing, she’s performing improv comedy or debating whether it’s safe to eat raw cookie dough.
Erika Thorkelson is a writer and storyteller of prairie origins. Her work has appeared in local and national publications such as The New Quarterly, Joyland Vancouver, Hazlitt, Ricepaper Magazine and the Vancouver Sun. She is a host of the Storytelling Show on Vancouver Co-op Radio and an instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Michael Warford is a writer. He was born in St. John’s; he lives in Montreal.
Fiona Williams is doing her Master’s degree at McGill University, in Women and Gender Studies and Islamic Studies. Her focus is on Arab-American Literature, with an interest in the narratives of women writers. Aside from school, she enjoys cooking, reading, and writing in Montreal’s wonderful cafes. Read Williams’ work on the importance of intersectionality within the feminist movement, and the consequences of beauty standards
Ivana Velickovic is a copywriter based in Toronto. She spends her free time rotating around writing, reading, and listening to music.
Jo-Ann Zhou hails from south-central Ontario by way of Lima, Peru. She enjoys cheese, living abroad, and exploring issues of migration and identity. Read Zhou’s work on silence and domestic abuse
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