Keynote Speakers

Sunday, February 14 · 4:00–5:00 PM

Giller Prize Winner

Giller Spotlight: Every year we welcome the winner of the Giller Prize, which is announced mid November.

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Thursday, February 11 · 2:00–3:15 PM

Jennifer Finney Boylan

Jennifer Finney Boylan is a bestselling American author who has spent her career illuminating the complexities of identity, family, and belonging with warmth, humor, and profound humanity. From the groundbreaking memoir She’s Not There to the bestselling novel Mad Honey and her latest memoir, Cleavage, her work has made her a distinctive voice in contemporary American literature, inviting readers to consider identity, relationships, and the many ways we understand ourselves and one another.

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Wednesday, February 10 · 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Amor Towles

Amor Towles is an American novelist celebrated for his elegant storytelling, unforgettable characters, and richly imagined worlds that bridge history and contemporary life. His acclaimed novels include Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway, and Table for Two. With wit and humanity, Towles explores ambition, friendship, resilience, and the choices that shape our lives, creating stories that have captivated readers around the world.

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Thursday, February 11 · 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Michelle Good

Michelle Good is an award-winning Cree writer and member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan whose work Michelle Good is an award-winning writer from Canada and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan whose work explores Indigenous history, justice, and reconciliation. A former lawyer and advocate for survivors of Canada’s Indian Residential School system, she is the bestselling author of Five Little Indians, winner of the 2020 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Her writing celebrates the resilience, strength, and enduring stories of Indigenous communities.

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Friday, February 12 · 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM

Martha Bátiz

Martha Bátiz is a Mexican author, translator, and professor based in Canada whose work bridges cultures, languages, and literary traditions. She is the author of acclaimed short story collections, the novel Las cervantas (A Daughter’s Place), and the founder of the University of Toronto’s Creative Writing in Spanish program. Her writing explores history, feminism, translation, and cultural identity with insight and imagination.

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Friday, February 12 · 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Xavier Velasco

Xavier Velasco is an acclaimed Mexican novelist, journalist, and columnist whose work is celebrated for its wit, originality, and unforgettable characters. Winner of the Alfaguara Prize for his novel Diablo guardián, he has published numerous works of fiction and nonfiction exploring identity, ambition, memory, and desire. A longtime cultural commentator, Velasco brings a distinctive voice to contemporary Mexican literature.

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Saturday, February 13 · 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Kiran Desai

Kiran Desai is an Indian American author and Booker Prize winner whose work brings a distinctive global perspective to contemporary American literature. Born in India and educated in both India and the United States, she is the author of The Inheritance of Loss and the acclaimed Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard. Her fiction explores migration, identity, family, and belonging, reflecting the experience of lives shaped across cultures and borders. Her work has been translated into dozens of languages and has earned international acclaim.

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Sunday, February 14 · 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay is an internationally acclaimed Haitian American author, essayist, editor, and cultural critic whose work explores identity, power, relationships, and contemporary life with honesty and insight. She is the bestselling author of Bad Feminist, Hunger, and An Untamed State. One of today’s most influential literary voices, Gay brings a wide-ranging perspective to conversations about literature, culture, and society, championing stories and experiences that broaden how we understand the world around us.

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