Speakers for this event

• Desiree Mckenzie

  Desiree Mckenzie

  Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet, arts educator, poetry slam champion, and voice actor living in Toronto. Her poetry and voice have been featured in works for CBC, Clearco, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and Home Depot. In December 2022, she opened for Rupi Kaur on her world tour stop at Massey Hall. She is currently an MFA candidate in the University of Guelph Creative Writing program and working on her first book of poetry.

• Gianna Patriarca

  Gianna Patriarca

  Gianna Patriarca is a multiple award winner of 13 books. Her poetry, fiction and children’s literature is extensively anthologized, adapted for Canada stage, CBC radio drama and appears in numerous documentaries. Italian Women and Other Tragedies is in its fourth printing and translated into Italian. This Way Home, published by Guernica Editions in 2022, is her latest collected and new work.

• Joseph Maviglia

  Joseph Maviglia

  In the great tradition of spoken word, performance poets and singer-songwriters, Joseph Maviglia is renowned for his energized musical performances, written text and non-fiction essays.Joseph lives in Toronto. His most recent collection is ‘In a Cage of Sunlight’ (The Selected Works of Joseph Maviglia) (Guernica Editions 2025).

• Lillian Allen

  Lillian Allen

• Subrata Kumar Das

  Subrata Kumar Das

  Subrata Kumar Das, a writer and curator, immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh in 2013. A recipient of Nalanda Best Canadian Bengali Author Award in 2023, and Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award in 2018, Subrata has 31 books to his credit and a record of joining the TIFA for three years.