Author Readings: Literary Fiction Authors
Description
Join these Canadian authors as they read from their books, and be sure to check out our full list of live virtual sessions for this year's event at: FictionFest.ca/events
Lineup
Carter Vance
Carter Vance is a writer and poet originally from Cobourg, Ontario, currently a resident in Gatineau, Quebec. His work has appeared in such publications as The Smart Set, Contemporary Verse 2 and A Midwestern Review, amongst others. Smaller Animals is his first novel, following two poetry collections. Carter has worked as a researcher and policy analyst with government and non-profit organizations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Dominica and Indonesia. He was a staffer for several members of Parliament, including the Opposition House Leader in 2014 and also worked in the Senate of Canada.
Andrew Boden
Andrew Boden’s fiction and non-fiction has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines, including the Journey Prize anthology. His debut novel, When We Were Ashes, was published in 2024 by Goose Lane Editions and was a finalist for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. He also authored the short story collection, The Secret History of My Hometown, and is the co-editor of Hidden Lives: True Stories from People Who Live with Mental Illness, an anthology of personal essays published by Brindle & Glass. Andrew also enjoys his volunteer board role with the children’s literacy charity, Books Over Borders. He lives in Burnaby, British Columbia in Canada.
Jay Royston
Jay Royston has successfully and consistently failed upwards in his writing career. His first failure was film school where the only thing to grab anyone’s attention was the title of his unproduced film script. He then created and failed at publishing a Canadian indie film magazine. That led to producing a cable children’s show which was quickly cancelled, and his first rejected manuscript, all before Y2K! Next, he wrote and directed a feature film that failed to find distribution then moved to the Maritimes to find work in Canadian television comedy. It was at this time kidney cancer changed his life’s course, moving him away from Canadian film into Canadian social work. He submitted to various internet webzines, some of which are still running, like WhatCulture and PopcultureMatters. He enjoys the flexible hours writing allows him but not the negligible pay. He is a father, husband, teacher’s aide, firefighter, support worker and writes as time permits.
Joanna Lilley
Joanna Lilley is a British-Canadian poet and novelist living in Whitehorse, Yukon. Her most recent poetry collection, Three Pieces of Sea, is forthcoming in 2026. Joanna is the author of Endlings, a collection of poems about extinct animals which won the 2021 Fred Kerner Book Award. Her other poetry books are If There Were Roads and The Fleece Era, which was nominated for the Fred Cogswell Award, and she’s also the author of a novel Worry Stones, which was longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award, and a short story collection, The Birthday Books. Joanna loves sharing the joy of words and has participated in events as far afield as Iceland and Alaska. Joanna lives with gratitude on the Traditional Territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council. In 2021, she was awarded the Commissioner of Yukon’s Borealis Prize for literary contribution.
HOSTED BY: Steve Hugh Westenra
Steve is a trans author of fantasy, science fiction, and horror (basically, if it’s weird he writes it). He's also a book reviewer, a SFINCS and SPFBO judge, and runs the Trans Reading Group discord. He grew up on the eldritch shores of Newfoundland, Canada, and currently lives and works in (the slightly less eldritch) Montreal. He holds advanced degrees in Russian Literature, Medieval Studies, and Religious Studies. His current academic work focuses on marginalized reclamations of monstrous figures. He has taught the History of Satan; Religion and its Monsters; and Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. Steve is passionate about queerness, Late Antiquity, and spiders.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
