Calgary 
Events Description
Don’t miss your chance to see these two award-winning authors on the same stage! Francine Cunningham (2023-24 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary) and Wayne Arthurson (2023-24 Writer-in-Residence at the University of Alberta) will read from their respective works and be in dialogue with one another. A book signing will follow the event and light refreshments will be provided.
About the authors:
Francine Cunningham is an award-winning writer, artist and educator who spends her summer days writing on the prairie’s and her winter months teaching in the north. Francine is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta but grew up in Calgary, Edmonton, and 100 Mile House, BC. Francine is also Metis, and has settler family roots stretching from as far away as Ireland and Belgium. She currently resides in Alberta but previously spent over a decade calling Vancouver her home.
Her debut book of poems On/Me (Caitlin Press) was nominated for The BC and Yukon Book Prize, The Indigenous Voices Award, and The Vancouver Book Award. Her debut book of short stories God Isn’t Here Today (Invisible Publishing) is out now and is a book of speculative fiction and horror and was longlisted for The inaugural Carol Shield’s Prize for Fiction, was a finalist for the 2023 Indigenous Voices Award, and won the 2023 ReLit award for short fiction. Her first children’s book What if bedtime didn’t exist (Annick Press) will be out in March 2024. Francine also writes for television with credits including the teen reality show THAT’S AWSM! among others and was a recipient of a Telus StoryHive grant to make a web-series. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have also appeared in The Best Canadian Short Stories, The Best Canadian Non-Fiction, in Grain Magazine as the 2018 Short Prose Award winner, on The Malahat Review’s Far Horizon’s Prose shortlist, and on the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize longlist among others. She is currently the Canadian Writer in Residence at The University of Calgary.
You can find out more about her at www.francinecunningham.ca
Wayne Arthurson is a writer and literary agent from Edmonton, Alberta and is the author of eight novels and five books of nonfiction. Arthurson’s work focuses on the Indigenous experience in Canada and is informed by his Cree and French Canadian heritage. His debut novel Final Season is set in an Indigenous community that faces severe environmental upheaval due to a new hydroelectric project. His novella The Red Chesterfield won the 2020 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence (formerly the Arthur Ellis Award) in the Best Novella category. He has been twice shortlisted for the High Plains Book Award in the Best Indigenous Writer category, and his novel Fall from Grace won the 2012 Alberta Readers’ Choice Award.
For more than thirty years, Wayne has been living, writing and working in Edmonton and has been an active member of the city’s arts scene. He has served on the boards of prestigious municipal arts organizations, such as the Edmonton Arts Council and Litfest, and has judged several literary competitions. His background in journalism and broadcasting have helped to further his career as a writer in Alberta and he continues to work with and for the arts in Canada and abroad.
Who is it for?
All ages
HOW MUCH
Tickets : Free
How to get tickets?
WHEN & WHERE
Date: Tuesday March 26, 2024
Doors open: 6:30
Event begins: 7:00
Reception: 8:30
Venue & Address
RGO Treehouse at cSpace Mardaloop, 1721 29 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2T 6T7
Wheelchair accessible
Free Parking
Street Parking
Accessible by Public Transport
