Carleigh Baker (she/her)
Keynote
Her debut story collection, Bad Endings, won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Indigenous Voices Award for fiction. Her short stories and essays have been translated into several languages, and anthologized in Canada, the United States, and Europe…
Dr. Finnian Burnett (they/them)
Presenter
Dr. Finnian Burnett is a writer whose work explores the intersections of the human body, mental health, and gender identity. They are a recipient of a 2023 Canada Council for the Arts grant, a finalist in the 2023 CBC nonfiction prize, and a 2024 Pushcart nominee. Finnian’s work appears in Blank Spaces Magazine, Reflex Press…
Premee Mohamed (she/her)
Presenter
Premee Mohamed is a Nebula, World Fantasy, Ignyte, and Aurora award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She has also been a finalist for the Hugo, Locus, British Fantasy, British Science Fiction, and Crawford awards…
Miranda Krogstad (she/her)
Presenter
Miranda Krogstad is a TEDx speaker and bestselling author of the book Glass Half Full of Poetry. A spoken word poet, eternal optimist, and workshop facilitator, teaching life skills including self-confidence, self-expression, and community-building, she has performed hundreds of workshops in dozens…
Andrew Buckley (he/him)
Saturday Evening Host
Andrew Buckley is a storyteller, educator, and keynote speaker with over 20 years of experience in creative writing and marketing. His humorous and satirical writing style persists despite polite requests to stop, as he creates engaging speculative fiction across traditional and self-publishing platforms…
Joseph Otoo (he/him)
Friday Evening Gala Host
Joseph Otoo is a journalist who’s been working in Canadian media for nearly two decades.
He’s been with CBC Kelowna for the past 5 years. If you don’t hear him in the studio, Joe is probably at home in West Kelowna with his wife, Allison, and their two kids…
Jim Jackson (he/they)
Featured Reader (WCWF Co-Founder)
Jim Jackson is a Calgary Herald bestselling author, reluctant gentleman and dabbler in the dark arts of blues music. Jim’s mission is to give – in these troubled times – memorable and meaningful stories for modern readers and listeners.
Faye Arcand (she/her)
Featured Reader (WCWF Co-Founder)
Faye Arcand has a background in criminal justice and has witnessed a lot of different behaviours, exchanges, and situations that piqued the interest of her creative brain. Having lived with a twisted writer brain her entire adult life, she allows stories and personalities to emerge that are unique, disturbing, relatable, and even a tad bit perplexing…
Simone Blais (she/her)
Featured Reader (Former WCWF Director)
Simone Blais is an award-winning writer and former journalist whose arts, history and feature writing has received national recognition. She has been published in BIG: Life in Plus Sized Bodies, an anthology by Caitlin Press. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from University of King’s College…
Michele Rule (she/her)
Featured Reader (2024 Poetry Contest Winner)
Michele Rule (she/her) is a disabled writer from Kelowna BC, the unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan. She is published in Five Minute Lit, the League of Canadian Poets Poetry Pause, First Frost, and the anthologies Chicken Soup for the Soul, and To Live Here (Wee Sparrow Press), among other places…
Cheryl Andrichuk (she/her)
Featured Reader (2024 Non-Fiction Contest Winner)
Cheryl has worn many hats—teacher, administrator, marketing guru, magazine editor, caregiver, and cybersecurity researcher. Her favourite role, though, is storyteller. She enjoys sharing her own adventures in written and spoken word and has even picked up a few kudos along the way…
