Featured authors
Emily St. John Mandel | Stephen Graham Jones | Terry Brooks
Special guests
Bradley Somer | Finnian Burnett | Kelley Armstrong | Kelly Siskind
Lee Edward Födi | Wakefield Brewster
Lee Edward Födi | Wakefield Brewster
Guest agents
Carolyn Forde | Jennifer Chevais | Naomi Davis
featured authors
|
Emily St. John MandelEmily St. John Mandel is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Glass Hotel, Station Eleven, and Sea of Tranquility. Her novel Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Toronto Book Award, and the Morning News Tournament of Books, and was adapted into a limited series for HBO. A previous novel, The Singer's Gun, was the 2014 winner of the Prix Mystere de la Critique in France. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is a staff writer for The Millions.
|
|
Stephen Graham JonesStephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of some thirty novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are The Angel of Indian Lake, I Was a Teenage Slasher, and the ongoing Earthdivers. Up before too long are True Believers and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.
|
|
Terry BrooksTerry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944. He spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same setting for Running with the Demon. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and went on to earn his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University. A writer since high school and heavily influenced by William Faulkner, it took him seven years to finish writing The Sword of Shannara, which published in 1977. It became the first work of fiction to ever appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.
He published The Elfstones of Shannara in 1982 and The Wishsong of Shannara in 1985, both bestsellers. Since that time, he has written numerous novels in the Shannara, Landover, Word/Void, and Viridian Deep series, including being hand-selected by George Lucas to write the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Terry Brooks lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and on the road meeting his fans. |
special guests
|
Bradley SomeRBradley Somer’s novels have been published in over twenty countries, translated into several languages, and produced in many print, digital, and audio formats. A few have even been optioned for screen. His newest, WE ARE ALL OF US LEFT BEHIND, will be released in the Fall of 2025.
He is the author of three previous novels: EXTINCTION (Blackstone Publishing & HarperCollins UK, 2022), FISHBOWL (St. Martin’s Press & Penguin Random House UK, 2015), and IMPERFECTIONS (Nightwood Editions, 2012). He has also written a ton of short fiction, which has appeared in literary journals, reviews, and anthologies over the past twenty years. Bradley holds degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology, where his studies focused on paleoenvironments and human prehistory in North America. He lives with his husband at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Between sitting for hours reading and chronic bouts of writing, he enjoys snowshoeing and hiking the outdoors. |
|
Finnian BurnettFinnian Burnett writes at the intersection of identities of health, mental illness, the human body, and queer joy. They are a recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Grant, a 2023 CBC nonfiction contest finalist, and a 2024 Pushcart nominee. Finnian's recent flash collection, The Price of Cookies, is available through Off Topic Publishing.
Finn holds a doctoral degree in English Pedagogy, particularly using story-based pedagogy to create equity in multicultural classrooms. Their work appears in Blank Spaces Magazine, Reflex Press, The Daily Sci-Fi, Pulp Literature, and more. |
|
Kelley ArmstrongArmstrong is the author of the "Rip Through Time" and “Haven’s Rock" mystery series. Past works include the Otherworld urban fantasy series, the Rockton mystery series, the Stitch in Time time-travel series, the Cainsville gothic mystery series, the Nadia Stafford mystery trilogy, the Darkest Powers & Darkness Rising teen paranormal series, the Age of Legends teen fantasy series and the Royal Guide to Monster Slaying middle-grade fantasy series.
|
|
Kelly SiskindKelly Siskind is a contemporary romance and rom-com author dedicated to all things happily ever after. She’s a Golden Heart finalist, and she won the New Adult Romance of the Year from Under the Covers Book Blog. Her steamy rom-com, The Knockout Rule, was an Apple Books Best Book of the Month, and New Orleans Rush was included on Bussle’s 2019 Dreamy Romance Novels to Read this Spring list.
Her work has been translated and sold in Italy, Germany, and Poland. She also works as a freelance developmental editor, helping writers edit their books to pitch agents and get book deals, as well as to self-publish their novels. Her personal experience in the traditional and self-publishing worlds has provided her with an informed bird’s-eye-view of the ever-changing publishing landscape, and she gets ridiculously excited to help writers reach their goals. When not hunkered down writing or editing, you’ll find Kelly out hiking or skiing or mountain biking in the Canadian Rockies. She loves singing while driving, looks awful in yellow, and is known for spilling wine at parties. Website: https://www.kellysiskind.com |
|
Lee Edward FödiLee Edward Födi is an author, illustrator, and specialized arts educator—or, as he likes to think of himself, a daydreaming expert. He has written several books for children, including Spell Sweeper, The Secret of Zoone, and the Kendra Kandlestar series. He has delivered presentations, craft workshops, and residencies to kids in Canada, the US, Korea, China, and Thailand. During his free time, he’s a traveler, adventurer, and maker of dragon eggs. He especially loves to visit exotic places where he can lose myself (sometimes literally!) in tombs, mazes, castles, and crypts. Lee lives in North Vancouver, BC, with his wife and son on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and Musqueam Nations. www.leefodi.com
|
|
Wakefield BrewsterWakefield Brewster stepped onto his first stage as a Poet and Spoken Word Artist, January 1999. He's now known as one of Canada’s most powerful Professional Performance Poets.
Wakefield became the sixth Poet Laureate of Calgary in 2022, first Black Poet Laureate of Calgary, ever. During National Poetry Month in April 2024, after a quarter-century of Professional Performance Poetry, Wakefield released his first written Poetry collection titled: WakeWord (Frontenac House) For more about Wakefield and his Lyrical Life, please visit: http://wakefieldbrewster.com |
Guest Agents
|
Carolyn Forde
|
|
Jennifer Chevais
|
|
Naomi Davis
|
