Many Mothers, Seven Skies

Joan Crate

Joan Crate writes both poetry and fiction — and now theatre — and has won several writing awards over the years. The band U2, of whom she’s a big fan, featured her poem “I am a Prophet” on screen in their last Canadian tour.

Cheryl Foggo

Cheryl Foggo is a multiple award–winning playwright, author and filmmaker, whose work over the last thirty years has focused on the lives of Western Canadians of African descent. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, her plays Heaven and John Ware Reclaimed have received multiple productions. She is a 2022 inductee into the Alberta Order of Excellence.

Photo Credit: Mike Tan

Linda Gaboriau

Linda Gaboriau is an award-winning dramaturg and literary translator based in Montreal. Her translations of plays by Quebec’s most prominent playwrights have been published and produced across Canada and abroad. She is a member of the Order of Canada.

Photo Credit: Josée Lambert

Tchitala Nyota Kamba

Tchitala Nyota Kamba is a Calgary-based writer, actor, poet, drummer and educator. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she has published poetry collections, written for the theatre, and acted in and directed performances for Calgary’s Alliance Française.

Sherry Letendre

Sherry Letendre is a Coordinator for the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation Integrated Youth Hub Project and her current work is focused on the Nimi Icinohabi Life Skills program and Healthy Relationship Project for youth. Her journey and passion have led her back to her own community. She credits much of her accomplishments to the Creator and to her mother for instilling a vision for change in her community.

Karen W. Olson

Karen W. Olson is nehiyaw/anishinaabe of the Marten Clan and from Peguis First Nation. She is the founder of Prairie Thunder Arts, an Indigenous performance company. She is passionate about sharing the stories and teachings of her Indigenous heritages.

Susan Ouriou

Susan Ouriou is an award-winning fiction writer and literary translator with an interest in theatre and song-writing. She was shortlisted for the WGA Georges Bugnet Prize for the first of her two novels, Damselfish and has won the Governor General’s Award for Literary Translation.

With the participation of: Wakefield Brewster

Wakefield Brewster is a professional poet and spoken word artist, educator, producer and literacy advocate with over twenty years of experience. He is currently Calgary’s Poet Laureate.

With the participation of: Christopher Hunt

Christopher Hunt is a versatile actor who has won several of Calgary’s Betty Mitchell acting awards. In 2018, he was awarded the Harry and Martha Cohen Award for his sustained and significant contribution to theatre in Calgary.

Photo Credit: Mike Tan

With the participation of: Barbara Joan Scott 

In addition to being a musician, Barbara is an award-winning writer of fiction. Her latest novel, The Taste of Hunger, published by Freehand Books, was a Quill and Quire Book of the Year for 2022.

Photo Credit: Jazhart Studios