Aisha Sasha John is a poet of many forms. Author of the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize short-listed collection I have to live. (McClelland & Stewart 2017), as well as THOU (Book*hug 2014) and The Shining Material (Book*hug 2011), Aisha’s practice is equally rooted in choreography and performance: she’s created, curated and performed in solo and collective interdisciplinary dance performances in Toronto, New York and Montreal. Her solo show the aisha of is premiered at the Whitney Museum in 2017, and in 2018 was presented at Montréal, arts interculturel (MAI) and Toronto’s Summerworks Festival. Aisha was the 2018 Writer-in-Residence at the University of Toronto (Scarborough). She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and a B.A. in African Studies and Semiotics from the University of Toronto. She was born in Montreal.

Bill Gaston has published seven novels, seven story collections, two memoirs and a book of poetry. His work has been nominated for a Giller Prize and twice for a Governor Generals Award, and has won the Ethel Wilson Award, the Relit, CBC and National Magazine Awards, and the inaugural Timothy Findley Award for a body of work. He has taught and edited fiction in various institutions across Canada for over thirty years. He currently lives in Victoria.