Quebec Roots

TARA McGOWAN-ROSS (author)
Tara McGowan-Ross is an urban Mi’kmaq multidisciplinary artist and writer. Her work has been featured in print and online, as well as anthologized in Best Canadian Poetry, Anthologie de la poesie actuelle des femmes au Québec, Letters from Montreal, and in the forthcoming Speech Dries Here on the Tongue: Poetry on Environmental Collapse and Mental Health. She is the author of poetry collections Girth and Scorpion Season, as well as the memoir Nothing Will Be Different, which was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Award for nonfiction. She writes the cultural criticism newsletter Theatre of Cruelty on Substack, hosts Drawn & Quarterly’s Indigenous Literatures Book Club, is a storyteller and cultural animator for children, and is a freelance critic of art, music, literature, and theatre. She is primed and ready for your paid writing opportunity. Contact her at girthgirl.ca or taramcgowanross.substack.com

MONIQUE POLAK (author)
Monique Polak is the author of 33 books for young people. Her most recent book is Open Science: Knowledge for Everyone (Orca). Monique is a three-time winner of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (formerly the QWF Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature). Monique taught at Marianopolis College for 35 years. She is also a freelance journalist whose stories have appeared in the Montreal Gazette and in Postmedia publications across the country. Monique’s next book Remember This: The Fascinating World of Memory will be published in fall 2024 by Orca Books.

Lea Beddia (author)
Lea Beddia is an author, storyteller and educator. Born and raised in Montreal, she now teaches in Joliette, Quebec, where she lives with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing for teenagers, she’s likely watching zombies take over the world, eavesdropping on conversations, or baking something with too much chocolate. She wanted to be a superhero when she was younger but will settle for creating characters who can change the world. Her missions are to create literature that is accessible for striving readers, and to find the best gelato on the planet. She will not give up on her quest for either. Visit her at www.leabeddia.com, on Facebook or Instagram @BeddiaLea

Nisha Coleman (author)
Nisha Coleman is a writer, storyteller, and actor based in Montreal. Her stories have been featured on the CBC, Moth Radio Hour, and Risk! among others. She facilitates writing and storytelling workshops, locally and internationally and is the co-artistic director of the French storytelling series Enfabulation. Her memoir Busker: Stories from the Streets of Paris was published by Radiant Press in 2016 and her picture book, Dear Humans, was published in the spring of 2023 by Linda Leith Publishing.

RAQUEL RIVERA (author)
Raquel Rivera is the author of fiction and creative non-fiction books for children and young adults.Her books have won the QWF Prize for Children’s and YA Literature, twice; they’ve been nominated for the Red Cedar Book Award, Silver Birch, Forest of Reading awards and the Rocky Mountain Book Award, and were selected for CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens (starred selection), USBBY Outstanding International Books (Grades 3-5), Quill & Quire’s “Best of 2007” (Children’s), and more.

ALARIC BOYLE-POIRIER (photographer)
Alaric Boyle-Poirier is a video editor and videographer at Prod J, as well as a freelancer. He has over 6 years of professional experience in television and video post-production. Specializing in documentaries and reality TV productions, Alaric uses this experience to tell the stories and emotions that really matter. By focusing on the emotional components of storytelling, Alaric was able to put his film studies degree from the Mel Hoppenheim Film School to good use. Alaric may spend his days in the editing room, but it’s the passion and challenge of storytelling that gets him up in the morning. When he’s not polishing ideas, stories simply cut out of a calendar, Alaric is an avid rock climber and enjoys spending time taking photos, recording videos and rock climbing in his home province of Quebec.

PIERRE CHARBONNEAU (photographer)
Pierre Charbonneau fell in love with photography at the age of 14 when he first discovered the joy of the darkroom while visiting a friend’s home. After completing a B.A. in Communication Studies, he started his career as a magazine photographer for many Canadian publications and he later became a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail daily newspaper. This exposure soon led to commercial assignments. Throughout his more than 40 years career as a freelancer, his photos have illustrated a wide array of corporate publications such as annual reports and advertisements. He shoots personal work mostly with vintage cameras in B&W on film.

THOMAS KNEUBÜHLER (photographer)
Thomas Kneubühler is a visual artist working with photography and video. Over his career, Kneubühler has explored issues surrounding the privatization of land use, the exploitation of natural resources, questions of power, and the effects of new technology on society. Originally from Switzerland, he has been living in Montreal since the year 2000, where he completed a MFA at Concordia University in 2003. His works have been presented in exhibitions in both Europe and North America, among others at the Musée d’art contemporain, Montréal, the Centre culturel canadien, Paris, the Centre Pasquart Bienne, the Quebec City Biennial Manif d’art, and the Videonale at the Kunstmuseum Bonn. In 2011 he was awarded the Pratt & Whitney Canada Prize of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, and in 2012 the Swiss Art Award by the Ministry of Culture Switzerland