From the page to the stage and screen, discover the many ways Indigenous stories are told, shared, and carried forward!
Join us for three days of thought-provoking conversations, creative workshops, poetry, and live performances. Explore everything from children’s literature and filmmaking to writing across genres, the power of poetry, and the importance of storytelling across generations.
Curated by acclaimed Ojibwe poet and writer Armand Garnet Ruffo.
Being a Filmmaker 101 with Darrell Dennis
Friday, November 13 | 12:30–1:30pm ET | Virtual (link sent on registration)
How does a story get from the page to the screen? Actor, comedian, playwright and screenwriter Darrell Dennis has worked in nearly every part of the business, from a lead role on CBC’s Northwood to writing for APTN to directing his own feature films. In this practical session, he walks through the path from idea to finished film: developing a script, finding collaborators, and getting work made and seen. It’s for writers curious about screenwriting, emerging filmmakers, and anyone who has wondered what it actually takes.
Darrell Dennis is a Secwepemc comedian, actor, screenwriter and filmmaker from British Columbia. His one-man show Tales of an Urban Indian toured across North America, and his screenplay adaptation was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. He made his feature directing debut with The Great Salish Heist (2024), followed by Sweet Summer Pow Wow (2025).
Professional Development: Building Your Practice with Richard Van Camp
Saturday, November 14 | 11–12pm ET | Virtual (link sent on registration)
Thirty-one books in thirty-one years doesn’t happen by accident. Richard Van Camp has sustained a writing life across novels, short stories, comics, children’s books and film, while also mentoring other writers as a writer and storyteller in residence. In this session, he shares what he has learned about building and sustaining a creative practice: habits, community, saying yes, and keeping the work going over a career. For writers at any stage.
Richard Van Camp is a Tłı̨chǫ Dene author and storyteller from Fort Smith, NWT. He has been Storyteller in Residence at Calgary Public Library, Writer in Residence at the University of Alberta and MacEwan University, and a mentor with the Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle. His book on craft is Gather: Richard Van Camp on Storytelling.
The Next Generation of Readers: The Importance of Kids’ Lit
Saturday, November 14 | 12–1pm ET | Virtual (link sent on registration)
The books we read as children shape how we see the world and whether we see ourselves in it. Three authors talk about writing and illustrating for young readers: why Indigenous stories for children matter, how to write for kids without talking down to them, and what it means to hand stories on to the next generation. For parents, educators, librarians, and anyone who writes for, or wants to write for, young people.
Richard Van Camp is a Tłı̨chǫ Dene author and storyteller from Fort Smith, NWT, and a recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories. He has published 31 books, including baby books, children’s books, comics, short fiction, and the novel The Lesser Blessed.
SJ Okemow is a Nehiyaw and Eastern European multidisciplinary artist and a member of Bigstone Cree Nation. Âmî Osâwâpikones (Dear Dandelion) is her debut picture book.
Moderator: Melanie Florence is a Toronto writer of Cree and Scottish heritage. Her picture books Missing Nimama and Stolen Words won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award.
Word Music: An Evening of Indigenous Arts
Saturday, November 14 | 7:30–9pm ET | In person at Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave., Toronto
An evening of stories, poetry, performance and more with some of the most exciting Indigenous artists working today. Playwright and humourist Drew Hayden Taylor, storyteller and theatre-maker Yolanda Bonnell, poet Armand Garnet Ruffo, spoken word poet Sarah Lewis, and singer/songwriter Aiyana Louis share the stage with host Melanie Florence in a night that moves across forms and voices. Come early, stay late, and celebrate together.
Drew Hayden Taylor is an award-winning Ojibway playwright, novelist, columnist, filmmaker and humourist from Curve Lake First Nation, and one of Canada’s leading Indigenous playwrights.
Yolanda Bonnell (she/they) is a 2 Spirit Ojibwe and South Asian storyteller, performer, playwright and facilitator from Fort William First Nation, now based in Tkarón:to. Her play bug was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award, and My Sister’s Rage won the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Tom Hendry Award.
Armand Garnet Ruffo (Anishinaabe-Ojibwe) was born and raised in remote northern Ontario and is a member of the Chapleau Fox Lake Cree First Nation. A recipient of an Honorary Life Membership Award from the League of Canadian Poets, and the Writers’ Trust of Canada Latner Poetry Prize for his body of work, he is recognized as a major contributor to both contemporary Indigenous literature and Indigenous literary scholarship in Canada. As a creative writer and scholar, Ruffo’s books include Norval Morrisseau: Man Changing Into Thunderbird (2014) and Treaty# (2019), both finalists for Governor General Literary Awards, An Anthology of Indigenous Literature in English (2020) and Introduction to Indigenous Literary Criticism in Canada (2016). His stage to page adaptation, The Dialogues: the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow won the 2024 “Warland Award for hybrid texts. Having held the title of Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Literatures, he is a professor Emeritus from Queen’s University in Kingston; he has also taught creative writing at numerous arts institutions, including “Tŷ Newydd” Centre, Literature Wales, Cricieth, Wales, and The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, and has sat on numerous literary juries. He continues to publish widely and has read widely from his work in venues ranging from North America, Europe, Japan, Australia to China.
Sarah Lewis is an Ojibwe and Cree spoken word poet, activist, songwriter and author from Curve Lake First Nation, and Peterborough’s inaugural Poet Laureate. Her work has been featured on TED Talks, CBC Arts and Global News.
Aiyana is an Ojibwe-Caribbean singer-songwriter, piano and ukelele player based in Ottawa on Unceded Algonquin Territory. Her roots intertwine M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island and the Caribbean island of Barbados. Through raw emotion and poetic honesty, AIYANA’s powerful voice has quickly elevated her presence on major Canadian stages. She has opened for Juno Award-winning artist Aysanabee, performed the anthem for the Ottawa Senators NHL team, and commenced the 2026 Governor General Awards with a trilingual rendition of O’Canada at the National Arts Centre accompanied by their orchestra. With each performance, AIYANA continues to establish herself as a blooming new voice in Canada. Her sophomore single, Sweet Lovin, is available on all streaming platforms.
Sounding Thunder: A Sound Installation
Sunday, November 15 | All day, between sessions | In person at Heliconian Hall
No registration required.
Francis Pegahmagabow was an Anishinaabe soldier from Wasauksing First Nation who became one of the most decorated Indigenous soldiers in Canadian history during the First World War. After coming home, he served as chief and spent decades fighting for his community’s rights. Sounding Thunder tells his story in music and words. It is a chamber music and theatre work composed by Tim Corlis, with a libretto by Ojibwe poet Armand Garnet Ruffo, based on Brian McInnes’s book Sounding Thunder: The Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow.
Selections play throughout the day in Heliconian Hall. Drop in between sessions and listen.
Opening Ceremony with Elder Shishigo
Sunday, November 15 | 10:30am ET | In person at Heliconian Hall
No registration required.
Writing Between and Across Genres: Where Does My Work Fit?
Sunday, November 15 | 11am–12pm ET | In person at Heliconian Hall
Plays that read like poems. Novels that grew out of a stage show. Stories that refuse to fit on any one bookstore shelf. Three writers who move between theatre, fiction, poetry, non-fiction and performance talk about working across forms. They’ll discuss how a story chooses its shape, what each form makes possible, and how Indigenous storytelling traditions are not limited by the borders of Western genre.
Drew Hayden Taylor is an award-winning Ojibway playwright, novelist, columnist and humourist from Curve Lake First Nation whose work spans drama, fiction, non-fiction and television.
Armand Garnet Ruffo is an Ojibwe poet, biographer, librettist and scholar, and guest curator of this symposium.
Yolanda Bonnell (she/they) is a 2 Spirit Ojibwe and South Asian storyteller, playwright, performer and director from Fort William First Nation, now based in Tkarón:to. She has just completed her first novel, the first in a young adult trilogy.
Moderator: Kelly Boutsalis is a Toronto writer and journalist, originally from Six Nations, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The Walrus, The Narwhal, Elle Canada, Chatelaine and the Toronto Star.
Creating New Worlds: Indigenous Fantasy, Horror and Alternative Realities
Sunday, November 15 | 12:30–1:30pm ET | VIRTUAL (link sent on registration)
NOTE: This panel will be streamed into the Heliconian Hall for attendees and lunch will be served.
A world where nature has won its war against humanity and wolves rule what’s left. A family haunted by dreams that bleed into waking life. Indigenous writers are reshaping fantasy and horror, drawing on story, land and ancestral knowledge to build worlds that unsettle, enchant, and refuse the old rules of genre. Two authors talk about how they invent worlds on the page, how myth and lived experience feed the fantastic, and what dark or impossible stories can reveal that realism can’t. For readers of genre fiction, aspiring worldbuilders, and anyone who loves a story that takes them somewhere else.
Jessica Johns is a queer nehiyaw writer and visual artist with English-Irish ancestry and a member of Sucker Creek First Nation, living in Edmonton. Her debut novel, Bad Cree, won the MacEwan Book of the Year award, the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and the ALA Alex Award, and was selected for CBC Canada Reads 2024.
Coltrane Seesequasis is a fantasy writer of Indigenous heritage who grew up in Gatineau, Quebec. His debut novel, Secrets of Stone, published by Kegedonce Press, launches the YA series A Wolf in the Sun. It follows a young wolf named Silversong through a world where sentient animals rule centuries after humanity’s fall.
Moderator: Gabrielle McMann is a journalist of mixed Ojibwe heritage from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Her reporting and essays have appeared in The Local, The Narwhal, The Globe and Mail and Canada’s History.
Why Poetry? Singing Word Music
Sunday, November 15 | 2–3pm ET | In person at Heliconian Hall
Why does poetry matter now, and what can it do that other forms can’t? Poets talk about sound, rhythm, voice and the breath behind the line, and about poetry as something meant to be heard as much as read. Expect conversation and some poems read aloud.
Sarah Lewis is an Ojibwe and Cree spoken word poet, activist, songwriter and author from Curve Lake First Nation, and Peterborough’s inaugural Poet Laureate. Rooted in Indigenous storytelling and lived experience, her work explores cultural identity, intergenerational trauma, healing, resilience and our relationship with the land. She has performed on TED Talks, CBC Arts and Global News, and on stages across Canada and around the world.
Moderator: Gabrielle McMann is a journalist of mixed Ojibwe heritage from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Her reporting and essays have appeared in The Local, The Narwhal, The Globe and Mail and Canada’s History.
Writing Masterclass for Youth Writing Delegates
Sunday, November 15 | 3:30–4:30pm ET | In person at Heliconian Hall
Closed session for registered youth delegates.
A hands-on writing masterclass for the symposium’s youth writing delegates, led by Armand Garnet Ruffo.
