Authors Index

Mika Lafond is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She took a great interest in creative writing while she attended ITEP at the University of Saskatchewan through a mentorship with author Bill Robertson. Lafond and her cousin Joi Arcand started Kimiwan Zine in 2012 as an outlet for Indigenous visual artists and creative writers. Lafond has worked in education for ten years, has written resources for teachers, and began teaching at the U of S in 2015. Her writing is influenced by her love for her culture, language, and the importance of education. This is her first book. Lafond lives in Saskatoon.

Ian Letourneau's poetry has appeared in The Fiddlehead, Arc, Event, and The Malahat Review. His work has twice won CBC's Alberta Anthology, in 2005 and 2006. A transplanted Maritimer, he now lives in Athabasca, Alberta.

John Lent is a writer and teacher of writing and a singer/songwriter who has been publishing and performing since the mid-seventies. Lent has published six volumes of poetry, three volumes of fiction, and one book of conversations about the writing life with Robert Kroetsch. Lent’s last three books were The Path To Ardroe (2012), Cantilevered Songs (2009) and So It Won’t Go Away (2005). John Lent’s books have been long-listed for the Re-Lit Award, and short-listed for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. For a more detailed sense of Lent’s career go to his website: www.johnlent.ca.

Jerry Levy's short stories have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies throughout Canada, the US, and the UK, including The Nashwaak Review, The Flaneur, Lowestoft Chronicle, and Pilot Pocket Book. He has a B.Comm. degree from Concordia University in Montreal and a T.E.S. L. (Teaching English as a Second Language) certificate from C.C.L.C.S. (Canadian Co-operative for Language and Cultural studies) in Toronto. Of his varied interests, he has practiced Hatha yoga for many years, studied acupuncture, and performed with a number of percussion music groups. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Urban Legend: Stories is his first book.

Dianne Linden was born in Kansas City, and grew up in Bolder Colorado where she completed her university education. After working in the eastern US and Germany, she made her way to Canada to work as a teacher at both the high school and college level. In addition to her career and raising a family, Dianne’s work as a writer has always remained central to her life. Her poetry, short stories, and essays for adults have appeared in many Canadian literary magazines and have been anthologized in Canada, and Britain. She has also published two award-winning YA novels. Balancing her full time writing career is her volunteer work, which is diligently focused on raising money for African grandmothers through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Jeanette Lynes is the author of four novels and seven poetry collections. Her latest novel, The Paper Birds, is a national bestseller and won the Fiction award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Jeanette’s third novel, The Apothecary’s Garden, was a finalist for a High Plains Book Award and was shortlisted for several Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her second novel, The Small Things that End the World, won the Saskatchewan Book Awards’ fiction prize. Jeanette’s first novel, The Factory Voice, was longlisted for The Giller Prize and a ReLit Award. Her poems recently appeared in Prairie Fire and Ninth Letter. Jeanette’s book on research in creative writing is forthcoming with University of Regina Press. She directs the MFA in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan.