Canadian authors at the Sydney Writers Festival
Ivan Coyote is the award-winning author of eleven books, the creator of four short films, and has released three albums that combine storytelling with music. Ivan is a seasoned stage performer and long-time road dog, and over the last two decades has become an audience favourite at storytelling, writers, film, poetry, and folk music festivals from Anchorage to Amsterdam to Australia. Ivan often grapples with the complex and intensely personal issues of gender identity in their work, as well as topics such as family, class, social justice and queer liberation, but always with a generous heart, a quick wit, and the nuanced and finely-honed timing of a gifted raconteur. Ivan’s eleventh book is Tomboy Survival Guide and recently was awarded a Stonewall Honor Book Award by the American Library Association, and was long-listed for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
Appearing at:
- THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL: POETRY AND PERFORMANCE
- THE FULL CATASTROPHE
- IVAN COYOTE: TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE
- GAY FOR PAGE
- BORDERS OF THE QUEER BODY
- IVAN COYOTE: ON DIVERSITY
- SWF GALA: MAYBE THIS WILL HEL
Rupi Kaur is a Toronto-based poet, multimedia artist, and spoken word performer, who began her career sharing poems at poetry readings and online. Her poetry and prose collection, Milk and Honey, is a #1 New York Times bestseller, having sold one million copies. Her new collection will be published in September. Rupi often uses Instagram to publish new work, and gained support for her photoseries to destigmatise the taboos around menstruation.
Appearing at:
- THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL: POETRY AND PERFORMANCE
- EXPRESSING HERSELF: THE BRILLIANT LIFE OF RUPI KAUR
- VIRAL AND VERSE: HERA LINDSAY BIRD AND RUPI KAUR
- SEX, BLOOD AND DEATH
- TOUGH LOVE: WRITING COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS
Durga Chew-Bose is a Montreal-born writer. Her work has appeared in publications including The Globe and Mail, The Hairpin, Lenny Letter and The Guardian. Her debut collection of essays, Too Much and Not the Mood, was inspired by a 1931 Virginia Woolf diary entry. It explores culture, writing, and identity and the result is a lyrical and piercingly insightful collection of essays written in her own brand of essay-meets-prose poetry. Durga is currently teaching a non-fiction writing workshop at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.Appearing at:
- THROUGH THE WARDROBE
- TOO MUCH AND NOT THE MOOD
- SWF GALA: ADVICE FROM NASTY WOMEN
- DELIBERATE AND AFRAID OF NOTHING
- ROXANE GAY: DIFFICULT WOMEN
Mariko Tamaki is a Canadian writer living in California. Her books/collaborations include the graphic novels Skim and This One Summer (both with Jillian Tamaki) and YA novels (You) Set Me on Fire and Saving Montgomery Sole. This One Summer received Printz and Caldecott Honors, and the Ignatz and Eisner for Best Graphic Album (New) and was a New York Times bestseller. Mariko has also written for the comic series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tomb Raider and Adventure Time. Her more recent comics include Hulk: Deconstructed with Nico Leon and Supergirl: Being Super with Joëlle Jones. Mariko’s upcoming projects include a graphic novel about lesbian love and loss, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, with Rosemary Valero-O’Connell.
Appearing at:
- MARIKO TAMAKI TALKS THE TALK
- DEFYING EXPECTATIONS: HOW DO FEMALE WRITERS DEFY STEREOTYPES
- MARIKO TAMAKI READING AND WORKSHOP
Stephen Orlov is an American-Canadian award-winning dramatist, whose plays have been showcased in Chicago, London and Montreal. He co-edited with Samah Sabawi, Double Exposure, the first English-language anthology in any genre by Jewish and Palestinian writers worldwide. His plays include Freeze, Isolated Incident, and his dual-diaspora trilogy of Salaam-Shalom, Sperm Count and Birthmark.
Appearing at:
