(un)earthed, (re)birthed

Janel, multitasker extraordinaire, dwells in her parents’ basement in edge of Treaty 6 Territory, Edmonton, Alberta, colonially. She loves anime and thrifting. Bolo Tie Collective published her poetry four times in their anthologies.She actually isn’t a newcomer to Found Festival, as she has hosted the last poetry showcase “Pressured Poetry” last year. Additionally, KDays featured her poetry last year in AJA Louden’s event with Piney! Her haikus graced the pages of Alberta Filipino Journal. She cannot wait to make more new friends in the poetry community, so follow Janel Lope on Instagram @poetogress for more poetry!

Matthew James Weigel is an award winning Dene and Métis poet and artist born and raised in Edmonton. Currently pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Alberta, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and a Master of Arts in English. Matthew is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal and winner of the City of Edmonton Book Prize. He is a Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize finalist, Indigenous Voices Award winner, and bpnichol Chapbook Award winner. His debut collection Whitemud Walking received the Alcuin Society Award for book design, as well as the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award.

Philip Hackborn (they/them), is a performance artist and poet situated in Amiskwaciwâskahikan. They exist and make art at the intersections of race, gender identity, and madness. Select performance credits: FEED (MZD, Zero Lab #3), Hamlet in Isolation (Thou Art Here), Krampus: a Christmas Escape Adventure (Canscare), Devour Content Here (Cowgirl Opera). Select writing credits: Madness and other Ghost Stories (re:Create, Found Fest), The Shadow and the Fool (re:Create), Fragmented Journeys and Liminal (Skirtsafire, Expanse Festival, Alberta Circus Arts Festival). If they had a dollar for every time they helped devise an ultra-postmodern epic in a warehouse, they’d have two dollars. Which isn’t much money, but it’s funny that it’s happened twice.

Ren (they/them) is a queer nonbinary artist creating on Treaty 6 territory currently focusing on poetry, spoken word, drag, and collage. A sapphic hopeless romantic, they love to use their art to celebrate queer joy, fat liberation, and anything beyond the binary.

Shima Aisha Robinson is an amiskwaciy-wâskahikan born student, community builder, poet and spoken word artist who embodies, with every literary and scholarly effort, the ancient meaning of her chosen pen name. Dwennimmen is the name of an ancient African Adinkra symbol, which means strength, humility, learning and wisdom. She is the author of two books including HORN, 2016 (Denseverse), and Bellow, 2022 (Glass House Press). Shima is also the 10th Edmonton Poet Laureate.