1. The Opening Event - The FOLD
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Home Festival & Events The Festival of Literary Diversity FOLD 2022 1. The Opening Event

1. The Opening Event

Virtual Event

Description

Join staff from the FOLD in this opening event for the festival. Meet the team and some fellow attendees.

Find out what’s happening during the week, how to get the most out of the festival and the platform, and get a first-look at the evolution of the festival and a behind-the-scenes look at our incredible live venue space. This event will be held in Meeting Mode. Guests can choose to turn video on or off.

Date: May 1, 2022
Time: 11:00 am – 11:45 am ET

GET YOUR FESTIVAL PASS NOW

How to Register

Guests can choose from three types of passes for FOLD 2022:

  • Virtual Events Only Passes ($35)
  • Virtual Plus In-Person Events Passes ($45)
  • In-Person Only Passes ($15)

GET YOUR FESTIVAL PASS HERE

Secondary school educators can choose a special Educator pass (with the same virtual and in-person options), which allow them to create a Student Access Login which their students can use to log on to individual devices.

Bundle passes are available for groups of five educators who wish to reduce the price of their pass by buying in bulk.

School discounts and board discounts are available by request until early April.

GET YOUR EDUCATOR PASS HERE

On a Budget? Check out our Patron Pass program.

Featured Speaker(s)

A photo of a Somali woman with curly hair. She wears dark-rimmed glasses and is laughing.
Ardo Omer
Bio
A young white woman stands beside a tree trunk and smiles. She wears a green button-down shift top and a cream cardigan. She has long curly brown hair.
Amanda Leduc
Bio
JRichardon_SimonRemarkPhotography
Jael Richardson
Bio
A photo of a Somali woman with curly hair. She wears dark-rimmed glasses and is laughing.

Ardo Omer

Ardo Omer has written for online platforms as a reviewer and critic for almost a decade. She’s been a judge for a few kids comics awards and is an advisor at the Canadian Comics Open Library. Omer lives in Toronto, Ontario, where she serves as the Kids Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD).

A young white woman stands beside a tree trunk and smiles. She wears a green button-down shift top and a cream cardigan. She has long curly brown hair.

Amanda Leduc

Amanda Leduc is the author of the nonfiction book Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space, the novels The Miracles of Ordinary Men and The Centaur’s Wife. Amanda has an MFA in Writing from the University of St. Andrews, UK. She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where she serves as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD).

JRichardon_SimonRemarkPhotography

Jael Richardson

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower, a book columnist on CBC’s q and the founder and Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in Brampton, Ontario. Her debut novel, Gutter Child was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award and is a finalist for the Forest of Reading White Pine Award. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.

The FOLD is a remarkable and wonderful event for authors and attendees alike. What an amazing community, dedicated to the vital need for inclusive stories and the critical role they play in building a better world.

Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

Field Guide to the North American Teenager is my first novel and FOLD was my first Canadian literary festival. While American and Canadian culture overlap quite a bit, especially when it comes to bookshelves, Canadian literature is unique and I was very heartened by to be embraced by that community I consider home despite residing in the US. It was a homecoming I didn’t know I needed!

Ben Philippe, author of Field Guide to the North American Teenager

The Festival of Literary Diversity was an absolute joy–the organizers thought of *everything* and by anticipating authors’ needs, they freed us to focus on connecting with the audience and each other. There was no pretension, no posturing–just very genuine conversations with invested writers and engaged readers.

Zetta Elliott, author of Dragons in a Bag

I have been to a lot of writers festivals and the FOLD is definitely near the top of the list of those I want to be invited back to.

Harold Johnson, author of the memoirs Clifford and Firewater

Being part of such a clearly diverse, inclusive and mutually respectful group was thrilling and inspiring: a glimpse of a better world.

Kathy Page, author of Dear Evelyn, winner of the 2018 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize

Wherever I go in Canada and find another writer of colour, we eventually end up gushing about how great the FOLD is, how by normalizing diversity it liberates us to talk to audiences about craft. It’s hard to imagine the literary landscape returning to a prehistoric pre-FOLD era.

Ian Williams, Author of the Giller Prize-winning novel Reproduction

FOLD is a festival experience unlike any other I’ve had. The FOLD team strive to create a space that’s welcoming and engaging, while allowing for curiosity, ingenuity and the fostering of real community – and they succeed, every year.

Alicia Elliott, author of A Mind Spread Out On The Ground

The FOLD is one of the most important literary events on this continent. By focusing on diverse voices and giving authors space to share their stories and speak their truths, it is revolutionizing the writing and storytelling realm as we know it.

Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon Of The Crusted Snow

Being part of the FOLD community has provided me with a strong sense of belonging. Sharing diverse stories and listening to different voices that broaden my understanding of the world has impacted me as a person and motivated me as a writer.

Ann Y.K. Choi, author of Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety

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