Poets & Performers from 2026

A

Alexandre Yergeau
French

From the Outaouais, where he is based, Alexandre Yergeau explores a poetry of survival.

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B

Bardia Sinaee
English Canada

Former Ottawa poet Bardia Sinaee makes a welcome return with his astute debut collection, Intruder.

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Brandi Bird
English

Indigiqueer writer Brandi Bird presents their newest collection, Pitiful.

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Catherine Couture
English

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Claudia Coutu Radmore
English Local

Claudia Coutu Radmore writes place-rooted, image-rich poetry that moves between memory, landscape, and the quiet lives of natural things.

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D

D.A. Lockhart
English

D.A. Lockhart is a Moravian of the Thames First Nation writer and MFA graduate whose award-recognized work spans multiple poetry and short fiction collections.

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David Galvaude
French Local

David Galvaude is a situationist and exploratory poet.

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David O’Meara
English Local

Ottawa's David O'Meara's newest moving collection is Masses on Radar (Coach House, 2021).

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Declan Ryan
English

Irish-born Declan Ryan’s poems float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

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E

Emma McKenna
English

Multidisciplinary writer, Emma McKenna holds a passion for women’s histories and narratives.

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G

Gwen Aube
English

With Missed Connections with Tall Girls, Gwen Aube asserts herself as the standard-bearer of a new and monstrous world.

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H

Hajer Mirwali
English

Hajer Mirwali's first book, Revolutions, is a collection of poetry on shame, pleasure, and Arab Muslim girlhood.

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I

Isabella Wang
English

With her direct and clear poetic voice, Isabella Wang appropriates the markers of Canadian poetry – landscape, identity and place – but makes them entirely her own.

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J

Jennifer Baker
English Local

Jennifer Baker is interested in interdisciplinary approaches to experimental poetics, and her material poetics work will appear in the upcoming Delisted Project

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Jérôme Melançon
French

An interdisciplinary and undisciplined poet, philosopher and researcher, Jérôme Melançon is the author of Prairial·es.

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Jumoke Verissimo
English

With raw language and searing imagery, Jumoke Verissimo’s Circumtrauma unfolds the trauma of war while offering a path towards healing and reconciliation.

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K

Kacper Bartczak
English

Kacper Bartczak is a Polish poet and scholar whose award-recognized work engages closely with contemporary American poetry through both writing and translation.

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Karen Solie
English

Multi-awarded poet Karen Solie presents her latest book, Wellwater.

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Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
English

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L

Leslie Roach
English

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Lucia Farinon
English Local

Lucia writes poetry and songs exploring childhood, care, and memories that thaw.

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Lydia Unsworth
English

From Manchester, UK, Lydia Unsworth deepens our understanding of “place” with her poetry.

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M

Margaret Michèle Cook
French

Margaret Michele Cook is the official French Poet Laureate for Ottawa.

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Marie-Célie Agnant
French

Agnant is a writer of poems, novels and novellas, and she has also published children's books.

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Melissa Powless Day
English

Melissa Powless Day writes Indigenous poetry rooted in Anishinaabe and Kanien’kehá:ka identity, weaving cultural memory, land, and lived experience into contemporary lyrical work.

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Michel Thérien
French Local Canada

Le poème involontaire is Michel Therien's eleventh collection. 

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Misha Solomon
English

Misha Solomon’s work is a relentlessly inventive and endearing experience of queer connection.

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Nada Gordon
English

Punk AF, Nada Gordon practices poetry as deep entertainment.

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O

Olivia Tapiero
French

Olivia Tapiero is a writer, translator and musician, born in Montreal

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Open Set
Bilingual

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P

Paul Vermeersch
English

Paul Vermeersch is a Toronto-based poet and editor whose latest poetry collection is NMLCT (2025).

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R

Robyn Sarah
English

One of Canada's most loved English writers, Robyn Sarah, writes of the lyrical beauty of the daily.

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S

Sanita Fejzic
English Local Canada

Playwright, novelist and poet, Sanita Fejzić’s first book of poetry, Refugee Mouth, was published in 2025

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Sébastien Rock
English

Sébastien Rock is a bilingual poet, currently working on two projects on the themes of youth disaffection and critical transformation.

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Sheri-D Wilson
English

Sheri-D writes surrealist-influenced, speculative spoken-word poetry and is known for her electric performance style.

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Sneha Subramanian Kanta
English

In Sneha Subramanian Kanta’s latest work, love as the ongoing labour of naming what remains.

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Sonia-Sophie Courdeau
French

Sonia-Sophie Courdeau has written three books of poetry, including À tire d'ailes, which won her the Trillium Poetry Award in 2012

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Stephanie Bolster
English

Stephanie Bolster presents her fifth poetry collection, Long Exposure, an exploration of disasters and their ongoing aftermaths.

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Stephen Brockwell
English

Stephen Brockwell is a Montreal poet living in Ottawa.

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T

T. Liem
English

T. Liem is a Montreal-based poet and author published widely in literary journals and books with Coach House.

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V

Vera Hadzic
English Local

Vera Hadzic is an Ottawa-based poet and author of two poetry collections published in 2023 and 2025.

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