Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai is a writer and Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Winnipeg. Ruprai’s début poetry collection, Seva was shortlisted for the Stephen G. Stephansson Award for Poetry by the Alberta Literary Awards in 2015, and her most recent collection, Pressure Cooker Love Bomb, was shortlisted for the prestigious 2020 Annual Lambda Literary Awards.

Bashar Lulu Jabbour is an immigrant poet. He uses the simple day-to-day details to give a glimpse of the complexities of leaving one home for another. Bashar is a storyteller, and his stories are deeply personal. His poetry has been featured at many festivals across Canada including Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, Naked Heart, Latitudes Storytelling Festival, and Word on the Street, and he was an opening act for Carlos Andres Gomez.

Jacqueline Chia is a queer Southeast Asian poet who calls Toronto home. She is returning to her love for poetry after spending more than a decade steeped in academic literary perspectives, and currently indulging in a slow but enriching creative process with writing. She draws from memories and recollections of Southeast Asian folklore, creation myths, and superstition passed down from her family as ways to explore themes of migration, diaspora, childhood, grief, and love. She is currently editing a full-length manuscript supported by the Toronto Arts Council, The Garden of Good Bones, for publication.

Laboni Islam was born in Canada to Bangladeshi parents. Her poem “Lunar Landing, 1966” was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize (2017). In 2023, Laboni participated in Jane Austen’s House Reimagine Residency program, tracing one possible history of a muslin shawl through research and poetry. She is the author of the chapbooks Light Years (Baseline Press, 2022) and Trimming the Wick (ignitionpress, 2023).

Ogen Kanu is a metaphysical poet whose work examines the deep architecture of existence — the way love, faith, nature, life, and death intertwine in the human experience. Her poetry seeks to express the language of the soul and reveal what connects us beyond our physical forms, exploring the tender space between the seen and unseen.

Her upcoming poetry collection, set to be released later this year, continues her exploration of the inner landscapes where emotion, philosophy, and spirit converge.

Patrick de Belen is a Toronto-based Filipino-Canadian storyteller, arts educator, spoken word poet, writer, and filmmaker. His work—spanning poetry, film, and multidisciplinary projects—delves into themes of mental health, Filipino identity, liberation, community, grief, and healing.

Beyond his artistic work, Patrick is a dedicated educator and community builder, collaborating with schools, libraries, non-profits, addiction centers, jails, and mental health organizations to champion diverse storytelling and create space for voices often unheard.