Run Time: July 27-31, 2026. 10:00am–4:00pm

Location: George Bothwell Branch Library, 2965 Gordon Rd, Regina, SK

Shane Arbuthnott is the author of Guardians of Porthaven, as well as the Molly Stout series. His debut novel, Dominion, was nominated for multiple awards, including the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. His short fiction has appeared in On Spec and Open Spaces. Shane grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and now lives in Regina with his family. For more information on Shane and his books, visit www.shanearbuthnott.com.

Guest Author: Cat Abenstein

Cat Abenstein (she/her) is a neuroqueer white settler from oskana kâ-asastêki in Treaty 4. (Regina, SK) Cat’s a spoken word artist, writer, and arts administrator where she is witness to the community, reclamation, and power found through stories. Since 2012, she’s taken her work to local, provincial, and national stages and has organized, hosted, and facilitated dozens of spoken word events for multiple organizations. Cat is a multiple-time poetry slam winner and has published poetry, creative nonfiction, and horror fiction. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the 2025 Foster Poetry Prize and published by Contemporary Verse 2. Cat is a lyricist and rapper for the experimental hip hop group, None Shall Sleep Tonight and a member of several writing groups. When she’s not consuming books, she’s dreaming about the ways words weave us all together. She lives with her wife and two cats in a house older than all of their ages combined. You can learn more about her at www.catabenstein.com/.

Partners and Sponsors: Many thanks to Regina Public Library, the City of Regina, Community Initiatives Fund, SaskTel, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, and SaskLotteries.

Run Time: July 27-31, 2026. 10:30am–4:30pm

Location: Rusty MacDonald Branch Library, 225 Primrose Dr, Saskatoon, SK

Mika Lafond is a member of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. In 2017, she published her first book of poetry, nipê wânîn, which was also her full-length thesis project for the MFA Writing Program. She has had poems published in the Malahat Review, kimiwan zine, and three anthologies: “Release Any Words Stuck Inside of You: Untethered Anthology of Shorts,” “kisiskâciwan: Indigenous Voices from Where the River Flows Swiftly,” and “Three Sisters Soup for the Spirit”. Mika has written scripts for the Saskatoon Public School Division’s Indigenous Ensemble for the production of her first play “otâcimow” in 2019. She has published 20 children’s books for Muskeg Lake Cree Nation highlighting the history and culture of her home community. 
Mika has taught creative writing courses since 2020 for the English Department at University of Saskatchewan. She has also taught high school creative writing courses. 

Guest Author: Beverley Brenna

Beverley Brenna is a freelance writer, editor, and visual artist. She is the author of 17 traditionally published books, including her award-winning “Wild Orchid” trilogy. Her work has earned a Printz Honor, a Dolly Gray Award, and a Stuchner Award for humour. It has also been shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award and listed on CBC’s Young Adult Books That Make You Proud To Be Canadian. Bev lives in Saskatoon. 

(Photo Credit: Dave Stobbe Photography)

Partners and Sponsors: Many thanks to the Saskatoon Public Library, Community Initiatives Fund, City of Saskatoon, SaskTel, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, and SaskLotteries.

Run Time: July 13-17, 2026. 10:00am–4:00pm

Location: Online delivery via Zoom

Dash Reimer (he/him) is an artist and educator based out of Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon. He is Saskatchewan’s 5th Youth Poet Laureate. He works within the worlds of poetry and hip hop and has a decade of experience performing on stages across Turtle Island, North Africa, South Africa and Turkey. He is passionate about community care, grassroots neighborhood movements and baking his friends tasty treats. Dash has been an avid collaborator in playwriting, chapbook making, jazz combos, improv troupes, rap crews and everything in between.

Guest Author: Conor Kerr

Conor Kerr is a national award-losing Métis/Ukrainian writer and bird hunter living in Edmonton, born in Saskatoon, and raised in Buffalo Pound Lake and Drayton Valley. He is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. His Ukrainian family are settlers on Treaty 4 Territory. Conor is the author of the novels Avenue of Champions (2021), which won the 2022 RELIT Award, was shortlisted for the 2022 Amazon/Walrus Debut Novel Award, and was longlisted for the 2022 Giller Prize, and Prairie Edge (2024), which was shortlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize and the 2024 Writer’s Trust Atwood Gibson Fiction Award and won the Crime Writers of Canada Best Novel award; as well as the poetry collections An Explosion of Feathers (2021), Old Gods (2023), which was shortlisted for the 2023 Governor General’s Award for Poetry and named one of CBC’s Best Books of 2023. His latest book is the poetic novella, Beaver Hills Forever (2025). He has a forthcoming novel, Duck Blind, coming out in spring 2027. 

Partners and Sponsors: Many thanks to the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, Community Initiatives Fund, SaskTel, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, and SaskLotteries.

Run Time: July 20-24, 2026. 10:00am–4:00pm

Location: John M. Cuelenaere Public Library, Prince Albert, SK

Shauna Eveleigh Harris is a poet and Somatic Therapist whose work has been published in Spring magazine, untethered magazine, The Prairie Journal and online at The Fieldstone Review. Her poems have won the second place prize (twice!) in the Tisdale Writers’ Group Contests and her poem “Girl at the Bar with High Heels” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2019. She is currently working on two simultaneous debut manuscripts: a collection of haiku about her trip to the high desert, and a collection of lyric poems. She lives in Prince Albert with her family and books.

Guest Author: Glenda Goertzen

Throughout her youth, Glenda Goertzen wrote novels where her love of hiking and biology played a strong role. As a grown up, however, she turned away from her dream of becoming an author to pursue a career in multi-media production. After a decade of being surrounded by TV screens, she was overwhelmed by a desire to be surrounded by books instead. Shortly after launching into a new library career, she became the author of the Prairie Dogs Adventure series for children and the YA fantasy novel Lady Oak Abroad. She now spends her days in Prince Albert, surrounded by books in various stages of completion.

Partners and Sponsors: Many thanks to the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library, Prince Albert & Area Community Foundation, Community Initiatives Fund, SaskTel, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, and SaskLotteries.

Run Time: July 20-24, 2026. 10:00am–4:00pm

Location: Online delivery via Zoom

VICTORIA KOOPS never stopped playing make-believe and often writes while wearing a tiara. Her stories are full of epic adventure and swoony romance, and navigate social issues through the power of fandom and geek culture. Her debut novel, WHO WE ARE IN REAL LIFE, appeared on the Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Books of 2024, was nominated for the Forest of Reading’s 2025 White Pine Award™, and won the 2025 Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature.

As a practicing counsellor, Victoria writes, plays, and lives with her family in Treaty 4 Territory. Besides writing, Victoria loves to sing off-key, tease her sisters, and fool herself into believing that maybe, just maybe, she’ll choose a different romance the next time she sits down to play Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Victoria is a member of the Estevan Writer’s Group, Saskatchewan Writers Guild, and Writers’ Union of Canada. In the summers of 2016 and 2021, she attended the Sage Hill Writing Experience and completed a mentorship with Canadian author, Merilyn Simonds in 2020. So far, this writing thing has been a wild adventure, and she’s just getting started!

(Photo Credit: JMW Photos)

Guest Author: Kristy Jackson

Kristy Jackson is the award-winning children’s author of MORTIFIED (Harper Collins Canada, May 2024), which was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award, a Forest of Reading Silver Birch Award, a Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award, the Joan Betty Stuchner Oy Vey Awards, and a Saskatchewan Book Award. TOUCHING GRASS (HarperCollins Canada, September 2025) is her second novel and was recognized as a Calgary Public Library Best Book of the Year, was the 2025 Northern Lights Book Awards Middle Grade Book of the Year, chosen as the #8 Indigo Best Kids’ Book of 2025, shortlisted for a 2027 Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award, and was shortlisted for three Saskatchewan Book Awards.Her work draws inspiration from her Cree and German background and her long list of embarrassing moments. Kristy lives in Saskatoon and is a mother of two boys, a communications professional, and an active volunteer. 

Partners and Sponsors: Many thanks to the Swift Current Chinook Regional Library, Community Initiatives Fund, SaskTel, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council for the Arts, SaskCulture, and SaskLotteries.