Who We Are
Organizers
Shawn Hamm | Lead Event Coordinator and Host
Shawn Hamm is an English Instructor at MacEwan University, a tutor through the kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre, a seasonal grave keeper, Gothicist, and creative writer. Shawn's research intersects the macabre milieu of gothic literature and science fiction, dabbling (though not practicing, probably) in scientific necromancy and mad science of the long 19th century. His writing gravitates to elements of surrealism, the gothic, and folk horror. He is the founder of the publishing group the Bolo Tie Collective and has a strange obsession for connecting literary communities and dressing in what he calls "Hogwarts-chic."
Joelle Fagan | Socials and Event Coordinator
Joelle Fagan is a MacEwan graduate with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts and Communications. Although she occasionally dabbles in creative fiction as a means to unwind, her writing is more journalistic in nature. She has contributed to the Griff and Odvod Publishing. With an appreciation for details, Joelle enjoys editing and has previously served as a copy editor for the Griff and the Bolo Tie Collective.
Sponsored in partnership with the Writers' Guild of Alberta
Jason Lee Norman | WGA
Jason Lee Norman is the Programs and Events Coordinator at the Writers' Guild of Alberta, and a longstanding supporter of all things literary.
Emerging Writers
Guest Author
Jacqueline Baker
Jacqueline Baker has published three books, A Hard Witching & Other Stories, The Horseman’s Graves, and most recently, The Broken Hours, a ghost story about the final days of horror icon H.P. Lovecraft.
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Her work has been awarded the Danuta Gleed Prize, the Howard O’Hagan Prize, the City of Edmonton Book Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Sunburst Award, the Evergreen Award, and the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize
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She mentors writers through the Banff Centre for the Arts, Sage Hill Writing, and the University of Saskatchewan’s MFA Program, as well as at MacEwan University, where she is Associate Professor.
Invited Poet
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Mark Smith
J. Mark Smith is a poet, scholar, and essayist. His poems and verse translations have been published over the last decade or so in The Fortnightly Review, The Malahat Review, The Antigonish Review, Zócalo Public Square, Vallum, The Fiddlehead, Shearsman, and The Polyglot. His essay "On Running -- and Drinking -- and Saving Time" was in the fall 2023 issue of Santa Monica Review; and other narrative nonfiction pieces have appeared in venues such as Queen's Quarterly, Gulf Coast, and Orange County: A Literary Field Guide. He has published one book of poems, Notes for a Rescue Narrative (Oolichan, 2007); and one chapbook, Chimney Sweepers (Agatha Press, 2024). High points from his more than thirty years of writing poetry include winning the Malahat Review 2012 Open Season Award for Poetry and having a poem chosen for Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 (Tightrope Books; ed. Stephanie Bolster). He teaches literature and creative writing at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
Emerging & Established Writers
Ashley Alton
Ashley Alton is a student at MacEwan University, majoring in English Honours and Creative Writing. She is involved in publishing and editing student work in The Bolo Tie Collective and is currently serving as the English Department Ambassador. Ashley has also published her own short fiction and poetry over the past few years. Additionally, she works as an editor for the Edmonton-based fantastical magazine On Spec. Recently, she has developed an interest in film and is in the process of writing a short screenplay based on one of her published works. Her passion for horror folklore, film, psychological thrillers, and evocative poetry has been a driving force, inspiring her to create complex characters that speak to the human experience.
Laurence Braun-Woodbury
Laurence Braun-Woodbury is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. His debut novel, Glamorous Failures, was released in 2023 by the Open Apartment publishing collective. He publishes with articles on the housing crisis with various media outlets including Ricochet and Canadian Dimension. This work is informed by his extensive career in human services supporting adults and families experiencing poverty and houselessness.
Laurence is currently working on a non-fiction book on Canada’s housing system as well as a collection of short horror stories. He often jokes that these are in fact the same project; “capitalism,” he insists “is the horror story.”
Jo Dawyd
Jo Dawyd has been imagining stories all her life. Everything, from a stack of construction paper to her dad’s fancy chess set, to her sister’s marbles—taken without asking!—became tools to play out the epic dramas of her invention. She began using words to form her stories and hasn’t looked back. Currently finishing up her final year of a degree in Professional Communications at MacEwan University, she is looking forward to telling more stories in many different mediums.
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Lizzie Derksen
Lizzie Derksen is a writer and filmmaker from Treaty 6 Territory. She writes poems about Aunt Rachel, Rachel’s wife Susan, and their niece Lucy. She writes prose about the priest class, the worker class, and her childhood spent in a religious community in southern Saskatchewan. She is currently growing a small human, making a documentary on women's friendship for the CBC, and shopping her first novel.
Benjamin Johns
Benjamin Johns is the co-creator of the Cree & D podcast and co-founder of the Dirtbags writing workshop. He is a published author in the Bolo Tie Collective with a short story titled "I Could Have Been an Olympian." Benjamin Johns is an enthusiastic Dungeons & Dragons player, combining his creativity for creating new worlds with a passion for improvisational storytelling. He channels his love for the fantasy genre through the lens of Cree storytelling in pursuit of creating an indigenous lead fantasy genre that focuses on hard magic systems. With his unique blend of goals and talents, he continues to explore and inspire in diverse fields.
Derek Lantz
Derek Lantz is a 35-year-old Albertan author who focuses on blunt, layered prose where meaning is formed from parallel contexts rather than a unified definition. His poetry explores the dichotomy and cohesion of the individual in community while his longer works examine how consequence often comes outside of intention or action. With a scathing rejection of capitalism and a deep compassion for displaced or marginalized persons, Derek’s writing clearly delineates human persons from human institutions. A special focus is given to men’s health, the alienation and distortions of masculinity that arise from today’s repressed Western culture. Derek’s first novel, Family Matters, is currently looking for publication. His first poetry chapbook, Tales of the Undead, will be available soon at local bookstores. Derek served as VP English and Lead Editor for The Bolo Tie Collective at Macewan from 2022-2024 and has published six pieces with the Collective in their yearly The Bolo Tie Collective Anthology, as well as various international and scholarly publications of his other works.