Adrienne Adams (she/her) is an artist, poet, writer, curator, herb nerd and gardener living in Treaty 7 dedicated to creating braver intersectional space to honour the “feminine”. She believes that everyday and everything is sacred. She founded Woolf’s Voices, a reading series (2013-present). You can view her work in The Prairie Journal, filling Station, Herizons, The Firework, New Forum, Freefall, NōD, Antilang, Lida, Corvid Queen (Sword & Kettle Press), Deathcap, Politics/letterslive (Car Poems), Polyglot, Fire Season III anthology (2024), M(O)thering (Inanna Press 2022), YYC POP: Portraits of People, Artizein: Arts & Teaching Journal, Art-Care Practices for Restoring the Communal and others. Her chapbook Red Heads was published by above/ground Press in 2022.
She curates Woolf’s Voices (aka Virginia), joking that it’s an excuse to howl in public. She has performed her work extensively featuring at, amongst others; South Country Fair, The New Beat, Storytellers, Expressions, FlyWheel, The People’s Poetry and Ignite Festivals and co-curated for Single Onion, the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival and Storytellers for The Indie YYC. Her artwork has been shown around Alberta and is in the permanent collection at The Alberta Children’s Hospital. Ms. Adams has worked as an artist in residence and art teacher in the community for over 20 years.
https://adrienneadamsartandpoetry.com
@adamsel.adams
Ainsley Louie-Suntjens (she/her) is a Chinese-Canadian writer, poet and dance artist from Moh’kinstsis, also known as Calgary. She recently graduated from the University of Calgary with a BA in English & History. Her work focuses mainly on women, art, and the body genres, with a healthy dose of horror. You can find her work in Deathcap, Wyrd & Wise, Undressed Society, Nowhere Girl Collective and F(r)iction log. She is also **a passionate dance artist, cinephile, watercolour painter and avid thrift-shopper. You can find her at @ainsley.exe on Instagram, @ainsleyexeee on Twitter, @ainsleyexe on Letterboxd and @ainsleyexe on Goodreads.
The Merchant of Poetry (Tyler Merchant) @the_merchant_of_poetry Tyler Merchant (The Merchant of Poetry) is a slam poet and fiction writer from Calgary, Alberta. She began writing and performing in 2018, when her close friend bullied her into joining her high school slam team. She competed in the Alberta youth slam, Can You Hear Me Now, and continued on to be a regular at The Calgary Poetry Slam. She is a two time Canadian Individual Poetry Slam finalist, placing in the top 6 in 2023 and the top 4 in 2025. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Calgary in English Literature with a Certificate in Creative Writing. Most of her work is epistolary, exploring themes of feminism, butch identity, love and spite. Photo Credit: aloT.of.Poetry
Lyric Robinson (they/them) has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Athabasca University. They enjoy reading, outdoor activities, photography, spoken word events, and thrifted fashion. Lyric has a passion for working with people and making their day brighter in any way they can. They aspire to a career that lets them help and serve others in a way that brings them comfort and joy. They have moved frequently with their family and are grateful to have met new people, experienced different walks of life, and worked in diverse environments. https://theecologicalimagination.ca/about/
Aidan Darby-Miller is a non-binary photographer @onedamnphoton
The Alexandra Writer’s Center is currently sponsoring us and collaborated with us in 2024 to get these events off the ground and running. Special thanks to Robin Van Eyck, Precious De Leon and the AWCS team!
We would also like to thank our sponsors from The League of Canadian Poets, The Writer’s Guild of Alberta, The Calgary Spoken Word Festival, Calgary Arts Development and many anonymous donors.
