Speakers - The FOLD
fold-iconThe Festival of Literary Diversity

Speakers

Learn more about the powerful authors, poets and storytellers that will be taking part in this year’s festival.

Description

The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) celebrates Canadian and international authors every year at its flagship festival in May.

The festival includes panels, discussions, workshops, and interactive events that allow guests from across Canada and around the world to participate. The festival delivered in-person events for four festivals and presented virtual events for two years in response to the pandemic, and since 2022, the festival has presented more than thirty events annually in a multi-modal format, beginning with a virtual festival and transitioning into in-person and hybrid events later in the week.

The 2023 festival will run April 30 – May 7. Dedicated virtual events, with a range of panels, workshops, and networking events, will take place from April 30 – May 3. In-person events, many live-streamed and recorded for virtual passholders, will take place in Brampton, Ontario at the city’s beautiful Rose Theatre from May 4 – 7, 2023.

All virtual and hybrid events will be available on-demand until June 7, 2023.

 

Register Now for the 2023 Festival of Literary Diversity

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Speaker(s)

A young Mexican man with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a white t-shirt, standing against a reddish wooden wall.
Daniel Aleman
Bio

Daniel Aleman is the award-winning author of Indivisible and Brighter Than The Sun.

An Indigenous man with light brown and grey hair, standing against a blue background.
Wayne Arthurson
Bio

Wayne Arthurson is a writer and literary agent of Cree/French Canadian descent from Edmonton

A young Black woman with a curly brown Afro stands against a lush green background.
Britta Badour
Bio

Britta B. is a poet and author of Wires that Sputter (McClelland & Stewart, 2023) living in Toronto.

A young Indigenous man with a shaved head and a dark mustache. He wears a white button-up shirt under a black sweater and stands against a wall filled with books.
Cody Caetano
Bio

Cody Caetano is the author of Half-Bads in White Regalia (Hamish Hamilton). He works as a literary agent with CookeMcDermid.

A Black woman with hair pulled back in braids, wearing a teal shirt and standing against a brown background.
Gia de Cadenet
Bio

Gia de Cadenet is an author, writing mentor, and expat.

A white-passing Métis woman with blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing bright red lipstick. She wears beaded earrings and her mouth is open in a wide smile.
Jen Ferguson
Bio

Jen Ferguson (she/her) is the author of The Summer of Bitter and Sweet and the forthcoming Those Pink Mountain Nights, both from Heartdrum/HarperCollins.

A Black man with short greying hair and a mustache, standing against a lush green background.
R. Barri Flowers
Bio

R. Barri Flowers is a literary criminologist and bestselling crime writer.

A white trans male with short blue hair, wearing a denim jacket over a black shirt.
Markus Harwood-Jones
Bio

Markus Harwood-Jones is an author of YA and romance fiction, featuring stories of queer and trans love.

A brown bald man with a goatee stands against a dark blue background. He is smiling and wearing a red-brown leather jacket over a blue shirt.
Ali Hassan
Bio

Ali Hassan is a Stand-up Comedian, Actor, CBC Personality and Author.

A queer brown femme with short dark hair, wearing a strapless black dress with a white skirt.
Catherine Hernandez
Bio

Catherine Hernandez is the award-winning author of Scarborough the book and screenwriter of Scarborough the film.

A young Black woman with long dark hair in many braids. She wears a teal suit and stands against a pink background with her arms stretch out to the camera.
Shahaddah Jack
Bio

Shahaddah Jack is an 18-year-old poet and author whose poetry speaks to the lived black experience, the intersectionality of womanhood, and the adversity of adolescence.

A Black man with short dark hair and a short beard standing against a field of green and yellow wildflowers.
Kevin heronJones
Bio

Kevin heronJones is a youth basketball coach, author, journalist, lecturer and award-winning performance poet. He has numerous spoken word recordings and has published three poetry books and two youth novels.

A young Syrian-Canadian woman wearing a dark blue headscarf. Her chin is propped up in her hands.
Zoulfa Katouh
Bio

Zoulfa Katouh is the author of As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow and is currently pursuing her master’s in Drug Sciences.

A young Indian-Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a pink halter top.
Jesmeen Kaur Deo
Bio

Jesmeen Kaur Deo is the author of the YA novel TJ Powar Has Something to Prove, which was a 2022 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and Indie Next Pick.

A middle-aged Asian Canadian woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a dark printed dress and standing against a black background with her arms crossed. She wears bright red lipstick.
Jen Sookfong Lee
Bio
Black and white photo of a young Asiam woman with long dark hair, parted in the middle and curling at the ends.
Meegan Lim
Bio

Meegan Lim is an illustrator & arts facilitator based in Brampton, ON – known for her illustrations focused on food, culture and everything in between.

A middle-aged Black woman with greying black hair pulled back from her face. She wears silver hoop earrings and bright read lipstick and stands against a grey wall.
Suzette Mayr
Bio

Based in Calgary, Suzette Mayr is the author of six novels including her most recent, The Sleeping Car Porter, winner of the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

a middle-aged white woman with greying brown hair, smiling off into the distance.
Susan Mockler
Bio

Susan Mockler is a disabled writer living in Kingston, Ontario. Her recent memoir, Fractured, details her experiences with acquired disability following a car accident that left her with an incomplete spinal cord injury.

A senior Black woman with short curly grey hair, wearing a multi-coloured scarf.
Sheila Murray
Bio

Sheila Murray’s 2022 debut novel, Finding Edward, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and was a longlisted nominee for Canada Reads 2023.

A white woman with brown hair leans against a wooden countertop. She wears a black blazer,
Alessandra Naccarato
Bio

Alessandra Naccarato is a poet and essayist whose work explores intersections of disability and ecological change. She’s the author of Imminent Domains: Reckoning with the Anthropocene and Re-Origin of Species.

A young Indian Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a patterned beige shirt and standing against a light brown wall.
Janika Oza
Bio

Janika Oza is the author of the novel A History Of Burning, forthcoming from McClelland & Stewart in May 2023

A young Indian Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a bright red blazer and standing against a grey stone wall. Her arms are crossed.
Tahira Rajwani
Bio

Tahira Rajwani is a Mississauga-based student, volunteer and spoken word artist.

A brown Syrian-Canadian man with short dark hair and a small goatee. He wears a purple t-shirt and stands with his arms crossed against a black background. Various tattoos cover his arms.
Danny Ramadan
Bio
Liselle Sambury
Liselle Sambury
Bio

Liselle Sambury is the Trinidadian-Canadian author of the Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist, Blood Like Magic.

A Black woman with long curly hair, weating a black hat and a floral print shirt. She rests her head against her right hand and smiles widely.
Tanya Turton
Bio

Hailing from Jamaica, and raised in Toronto, Tanya Turton is an award-winning entrepreneur, storyteller, wellness educator, and mental health advocate. Her debut novel is Jade Is A Twisted Green, out now with Dundurn Press.

A young brown woman with long black hair, wearing dark pink lipstick.
Anuja Varghese
Bio

Anuja Varghese lives in Hamilton, has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and is the author of the genre-blending short story collection Chrysalis (House of Anansi, 2023).

A middle-aged Asian woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun.
Sandra SG Wong
Bio

Sandra SG Wong (she/her) writes acclaimed fiction across genres, including the bestselling thriller In The Dark We Forget, and is an active advocate for equity in the crime writing community.

An Asian man with short dark hair and glasses sits at a patio table outdoors.
Dan K. Woo
Bio

Dan K. Woo teaches short fiction at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.His latest book, Taobao: Stories, was featured on the Chicago Review of Books Most Anticipated Reads of 2022.

A young Mexican man with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a white t-shirt, standing against a reddish wooden wall.

Daniel Aleman

Daniel Aleman is the award-winning author of Indivisible. He was born and raised in Mexico City. A graduate of McGill University, he is passionate about books, coffee, and dogs. After spending time in Montreal and the New York City area, he now lives in Toronto, where he is on a never-ending search for the best tacos in the city. His second novel, Brighter Than the Sun, was published this past March.

An Indigenous man with light brown and grey hair, standing against a blue background.

Wayne Arthurson

Wayne Arthurson is a writer and literary agent of Cree/French Canadian descent, the author of eight novels and five books of non-fiction. His books have won the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award, Best Trade Fiction from the Book Publishers of Alberta and was the first Indigenous writer to win an Arthur Ellis Award for Canadian Crime Writing for his book, The Red Chesterfield. His latest novel is Dishonour in Camp 133. He lives in Edmonton.

A young Black woman with a curly brown Afro stands against a lush green background.

Britta Badour

Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Britta Badour, better known as Britta B., is an award-winning artist, voice talent, educator, and poet living in Toronto. Her work has featured in notable spheres such as The Walrus Talks, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Women’s Foundation, as well as literature festivals like the FOLD, Toronto International Festival of Authors, and LitFest Bergen. Britta holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph and teaches spoken word performance at Seneca College. Wires that Sputter (McClelland & Stewart, 2023), is her debut collection of poetry.

A young Indigenous man with a shaved head and a dark mustache. He wears a white button-up shirt under a black sweater and stands against a wall filled with books.

Cody Caetano

Cody Caetano is the author of Half-Bads in White Regalia (Hamish Hamilton). He works as a literary agent with CookeMcDermid.

A Black woman with hair pulled back in braids, wearing a teal shirt and standing against a brown background.

Gia de Cadenet

Author of Getting His Game Back and Not The Plan, Gia de Cadenet is a Maggie Award finalist, BCALA Literary Award nominee, and lifelong romance reader. She is also a business school professor and former translator and editor for UNESCO. A native Floridian, she currently lives in Paris with her children and her teacup Pomeranian, Sumo.

A white-passing Métis woman with blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing bright red lipstick. She wears beaded earrings and her mouth is open in a wide smile.

Jen Ferguson

Jen Ferguson (she/her) is Métis and white, an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching and beading are political acts. Her debut YA novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, is out now from Heartdrum / HarperCollins and won the 2022 Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature. Her latest novel, Those Pink Mountain Nights, is forthcoming in September 2023.

A Black man with short greying hair and a mustache, standing against a lush green background.

R. Barri Flowers

R. Barri Flowers is an award-winning criminologist and bestselling author of more than one hundred books. These include gripping crime, thriller, and romance fiction, entertaining young adult mysteries and children’s books, riveting true crime books, and outstanding criminology titles. As a graduate of Michigan State University, Flowers is the recipient of the prestigious Wall of Fame Award from its renowned School of Criminal Justice. As an expert on violent criminality and serial killers, the author has appeared on popular television crime investigative documentary series, such as the Biography Channel’s Crime Stories, Investigation Discovery’s Wicked Attraction, and Oxygen’s Snapped: Killer Couples.

A white trans male with short blue hair, wearing a denim jacket over a black shirt.

Markus Harwood-Jones

Markus Harwood-Jones (he/they) is a proudly queer and trans space-case who has been writing since he can remember. Markus specializes in writing young-adult fiction and has a soft-spot for sappy love stories. He lives in downtown Toronto with his husband, their platonic co-parent, and their extra-cute kiddo. Markus is an aspiring TikTokker and can be found on social media under the handle @MarkusBones.

A brown bald man with a goatee stands against a dark blue background. He is smiling and wearing a red-brown leather jacket over a blue shirt.

Ali Hassan

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 appears 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.

A queer brown femme with short dark hair, wearing a strapless black dress with a white skirt.

Catherine Hernandez

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.

A young Black woman with long dark hair in many braids. She wears a teal suit and stands against a pink background with her arms stretch out to the camera.

Shahaddah Jack

Shahaddah Jack is an 18 year old bilingual spoken word poet, author, performer, emcee, human rights activist, arts facilitator, and student of life. She uses the realities of her identity to create stories of art that connect with others and are used to teach one of her greatest beliefs in life, that your pain is your power and our beauty is our story. Not only does she do this with her poetry, but conjointly with her activism and arts facilitation as well. For her efforts, Shahaddah has recently been announced as BGC Canada’s 2022 National Youth of The Year.

A Black man with short dark hair and a short beard standing against a field of green and yellow wildflowers.

Kevin heronJones

Kevin heronJones is a youth basketball coach, author, poet, journalist, editor, actor and lecturer. This electrifying artist is best known for his profound and powerful delivery. His poetry is edu-tainment. It is poignant and inspiring. Words that equally speak to the street, the church, the night club and institutions of higher learning. He attempts to analyze life beyond the physical and spiritual norms to find the scientific parallels between our art forms, belief systems and history. His prose challenges young people to look inward to find solutions and encourages young athletes to become more involved with literature.

A young Syrian-Canadian woman wearing a dark blue headscarf. Her chin is propped up in her hands.

Zoulfa Katouh

Zoulfa Katouh is a Canadian with Syrian roots based in Switzerland. She is currently pursuing her master’s in Drug Sciences and finds Studio Ghibli inspiration in the mountains, lakes, and stars surrounding her. When she’s not talking to herself in the woodland forest, she’s drinking iced coffee, baking aesthetic cookies and cakes, and telling everyone who would listen about how BTS paved the way. One of her many dreams is to get Kim Nam-joon to read one of her books. Her first novel, As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow, is out now.

A young Indian-Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a pink halter top.

Jesmeen Kaur Deo

Jesmeen Kaur Deo grew up in northern British Columbia, where she spent most of her childhood daydreaming. She loves books that can make her laugh and tug at her heartstrings in the same paragraph. When not wrapped up in stories, she can be found biking, playing the harmonium, or struggling to open jars. TJ Powar Has Something to Prove is her debut novel.

A middle-aged Asian Canadian woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a dark printed dress and standing against a black background with her arms crossed. She wears bright red lipstick.

Jen Sookfong Lee

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.

Black and white photo of a young Asiam woman with long dark hair, parted in the middle and curling at the ends.

Meegan Lim

Meegan Lim is an illustrator and arts facilitator based in Brampton, Ontario that strives to nurture community growth and healing through visual arts. She is known for her detailed illustrations focusing on food and cultural identity, and the vast stories within those intersections. She holds a Bachelor of Design in Illustration, specializing in Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation, from OCAD University.

An Asian woman sits with her arms crossed and lying on a table in front of her, all against a dark grey background. She wears a white sweater.

Roselle Lim

Roselle Lim is the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop and Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club. She lives on the north shore of Lake Erie and always has an artistic project on the go.

A middle-aged Black woman with greying black hair pulled back from her face. She wears silver hoop earrings and bright read lipstick and stands against a grey wall.

Suzette Mayr

Suzette Mayr is the author of six novels including her most recent, The Sleeping Car Porter, winner of the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Award. Her other novels have won the ReLit Award and City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, and been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book in the Canada-Caribbean Region, the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s Best First Book and Best Novel Awards, and the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction. Mayr teaches Creative Writing at the University of Calgary.

a middle-aged white woman with greying brown hair, smiling off into the distance.

Susan Mockler

Susan Mockler is a disabled writer living in Kingston, Ontario. Her recent memoir, Fractured, details her experiences with acquired disability following a car accident that left her with an incomplete spinal cord injury. Her book provides insights into the physical and psychological challenges she faced in rehabilitation and beyond, as well as the discrimination and marginalization she encountered when she was no longer able-bodied. Susan’s fiction and nonfiction have been published in a variety of Canadian and US publications.

A senior Black woman with short curly grey hair, wearing a multi-coloured scarf.

Sheila Murray

Sheila Murray’s 2022 debut novel, Finding Edward, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and was a longlisted nominee for Canada Reads 2023. It was listed in the Globe and Mail’s 100 best books, CBC’s best fiction, 49th Shelf’s best books and the Toronto Star’s books gift guide. Her short fiction has appeared in many Canadian literary journals. Sheila has worked as a documentary filmmaker and television sound editor. She moved to the non-profit sector in 2009, and leads a grassroots, volunteer-driven initiative that engages urban residents in adapting to local climate change impacts.

A white woman with brown hair leans against a wooden countertop. She wears a black blazer,

Alessandra Naccarato

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.

A young Indian Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a patterned beige shirt and standing against a light brown wall.

Janika Oza

Janika Oza is the author of the novel A History Of Burning, forthcoming from McClelland & Stewart in May 2023. She is the winner of the 2022 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction, and the 2020 Kenyon Review Short Fiction Award, and her stories and essays have appeared in publications such as The Best Small Fictions 2019 Anthology, Catapult, The Adroit Journal, and Prairie Schooner, among others. She lives in Toronto.

A young Indian Canadian woman with long dark hair, wearing a bright red blazer and standing against a grey stone wall. Her arms are crossed.

Tahira Rajwani

Tahira Rajwani is a student, volunteer and spoken word artist. She is the winner of Mississauga’s 2022 poetry slam and has been published with The Stranger Poets, Poetry Undressed and Paper Crane Magazine. Most recently, she was also the runner-up for Button Poetry’s 2022 poem cover contest. Tahira is currently Marketing Lead with Sauga Poetry, an up-and-coming organization that aims to foster the local spoken word community and create opportunities for spoken word artists. By day, she is a psychology student at the University of Toronto.

A brown Syrian-Canadian man with short dark hair and a small goatee. He wears a purple t-shirt and stands with his arms crossed against a black background. Various tattoos cover his arms.

Danny Ramadan

Danny Ramadan is an award-winning Syrian-Canadian author and advocate for LGBTQ-identifying refugees. His work includes The Clothesline Swing, The Foghorn Echoes, and the children’s series Adventures of Salma! His upcoming memoir Crooked Teeth will be released in 2024. He had raised over $300k for Rainbow Refugee society since his arrival to Canada as a refugee in 2014.

Liselle Sambury

Liselle Sambury

Liselle Sambury is the Trinidadian-Canadian author of the Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist, Blood Like Magic. Her work spans multiple genres, from fantasy to sci-fi, horror, and more. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the sometimes complicated business of being an author.

A Black woman with long curly hair, weating a black hat and a floral print shirt. She rests her head against her right hand and smiles widely.

Tanya Turton

Hailing from Jamaica, and raised in Toronto, Tanya Turton is an award-winning entrepreneur, storyteller, wellness educator, and mental health advocate. Tanya’s work uses an intersectional lens to explore the relationship between narrative, mental wellness and care. As a wellness world builder Tanya takes steps to tell intersectional stories, and construct a world for Black and queer communities to feel heard, seen, and witnessed. Tanya is the author of Jade Is a Twisted Green, A coming-of-age story about Jamaican Canadian identity, love, passion, chosen family, and rediscovering life’s pleasures after loss.

A young brown woman with long black hair, wearing dark pink lipstick.

Anuja Varghese

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.

A middle-aged Asian woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun.

Sandra SG Wong

Sandra SG Wong (she/her) writes fiction across genres, including the cross-genre Lola Starke novels, Crescent City short stories, and the bestselling standalone thriller, In The Dark We Forget. A Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence finalist & Whistler Independent Book Awards nominee, as well as a speaker, mentor, and hybrid author, Sandra currently chairs the DEIJB Advisory Committee for Sisters in Crime, and is an active member of Crime Writers of Color. You can join her Reader Group via sgwong.com.

An Asian man with short dark hair and glasses sits at a patio table outdoors.

Dan K. Woo

Dan K. Woo edited the anthology, The Spirits Have Nothing to Do with Us, forthcoming in Spring 2023 from Buckrider Books. He was winner of the 2018 Ken Klonsky Award, a literary prize for a novella with a social justice theme, and is also the author of Letters to Little Comrade (2023). His recent collection, Taobao: Stories, was featured on the Chicago Review of Books most anticipated reads of 2022. He also works full time as a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers and occasionally teaches at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. 

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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