31. THE GREAT READCEPTION: A LITERARY CABARET

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is the host of CBC’s Commotion, and author of the No. 1 national bestseller Son of Elsewhere, a New York Times notable book of the year. He is a Reporter at Large for BuzzFeed News and a contributor to The National’s At Issue panel. Elamin was a founding host of Party Lines and Pop Chat for CBC Podcasts. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Globe, and others. When he gets a chance, he writes bad tweets.

Ali Hassan is a Stand-up Comic, Actor and CBC Personality. Ali is the host of the CBC Radio stand-up comedy show Laugh Out Loud, and the host of Canada Reads – the annual battle of the books celebrating the best of Canadian literature. Ali  can be seen as a recurring guest star in Sort Of on CBC GEM and HBO Max, and the sitcom Run The Burbs on CBC Television, and just began touring his latest solo show ‘Does This Taste Funny?’ across Canada. His comedic memoir Is There Bacon in Heaven? is out NOW with Simon & Schuster.

Catherine Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her novel, Scarborough, was a finalist for several awards including Canada Reads 2022. She wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, which won 8 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Her second novel, Crosshairs, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her latest novel, The Story of Us, was published this year. She is currently working on a few television projects and her fourth novel.

Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her family in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and Superfan. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit.

Alessandra Naccarato is the author of Imminent Domains: Reckoning with the Anthropocene (Essays) and Re-Origin of Species (Poems). Born and raised in Tkaronto (Toronto), her poetry and essays speak to intersections of disability and ecological change, and have appeared widely in publications such as The New Quarterly, Room Magazine, and Event. She is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award and the CBC Poetry Prize, and holds graduate degrees in both creative writing and community economic development, supporting two decades of work in grassroots social change, community arts, and the prevention of gender-based violence.

Anuja Varghese (she/her) is a QWOC Pushcart-nominated writer based in Hamilton, ON. Her work appears in Hobart, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Plenitude Magazine, and others. Anuja is also a professional grant writer and editor, and in 2021, took on the role of Fiction Editor with The Puritan. Her debut short story collection Chrysalis (House of Anansi, 2023) centers brown women and girls in genre-blending stories that tackle sexuality, cultural expectations, and transformation through a feminist lens. Find Anuja on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok or through her website.

Téa Mutonji is a poet writing fiction. Her short stories collection, Shut Up You’re Pretty (2019), was published by VS. Books and Arsenal Pulp Press.