2023 Speakers - The FOLD
fold-iconThe Festival of Literary Diversity

2023 Speakers

Learn more about the powerful authors, poets and storytellers that took part in the 2023 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 2024 festival will return April 28 – May 5.

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Speaker(s)

An Indigenous woman with long dark hair, wearing a black shirt and standing against a grey background.
Cherie Dimaline
Bio

Cherie Dimaline is a bestselling author and member of the Georgian Bay Metis Community who writes YA and adult literature, screenplays and essays.

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 Black woman wearing long feathered earrings and looking pensively into the camera.
The Wild Woman
Bio

The Wild Woman is an award-winning spoken word artist, poet, author, educator, and workshop facilitator.

An Indigenous woman with long dark hair, wearing a black shirt and standing against a grey background.

Cherie Dimaline

Cherie Dimaline‘s book, The Marrow Thieves, was declared one of the Best YA Books of All Time by TIME Magazine and won the Governor General’s Award and the Kirkus Prize. Her novel Empire of Wild became an instant Canadian bestseller and was named Indigo’s 2019 Best Book. Hunting By Stars was a 2022 American Indian Library Association Honor Book and her new novel VENCO debuted at #1 on Canadian bestseller lists. Other 2023 titles include Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Anthology of Monsters, and Into the Bright Open. Cherie lives in her community and writes for television and stage.

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 Black woman wearing long feathered earrings and looking pensively into the camera.

The Wild Woman

The Wild Woman is a Jamaican-born creator rooted deeply in her intersections as Black, woman, and queer, to harness purpose and use poetry, spirituality, and sensual self-introspection to challenge thoughts and ideals, instigating waves of change. With a career spanning over a decade, The Wild Woman is an award-winning spoken word artist, poet, author, educator, and workshop facilitator. She is also an event producer, host, speaker, and curator.

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

Stay Informed

Sign up for our newsletter

Group 10

© 2023 The FOLD. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions

Web Design by nvision