If we could rewrite history, what injustices would we right? We may not have time machines (yet) but writing about history at least offers the chance to recast historical figures in a more complex light. These three authors do just this with their captivating works that offer a new perspective on the past. Jes Battis reimagines Arthurian legends in The Winter Knight: an upbeat queer urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart, in which the Knights of the Round Table collaborate in Vancouver. Carmen Boullosa’s The Book of Eve tells the story of the most famous woman in history from her perspective. And, Beatriz Hausner also offers feminist insight in She Who Lies Above, on the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, the fourth-century Byzantine mathematician and thinker. Philosopher George Santayana said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. What future is possible when we reimagine it, too? Moderated by Rhea Tregebov.

Event Participants:

Jes Battis

JES BATTIS (they/them) is a queer autistic writer and teacher and the author of the Occult Special Investigator series and Parallel Parks series (as Bailey Cunningham) with Ace. Their first novel, Night Child, was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award. Jes teaches queer and trans studies, medieval literature, and representations of disability/neurodiversity in pop culture at the University of Regina. They split time between the prairies and the west coast.

Carmen Boullosa

CARMEN BOULLOSA is one of Mexico's leading novelists, poets, and playwrights. She has published over a dozen novels, three of which have been published by Deep Vellum in English translation. Boullosa has received numerous prizes and honors, including a Guggenheim fellowship. Also a poet, playwright, essayist, and cultural critic, Boullosa is a Distinguished Lecturer at City College of New York, and her books have been translated into Italian, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian. Other novels translated into English include Before (tr. Peter Bush, Deep Vellum, 2016), Heavens On Earth (tr. Shelby Vincent, Deep Vellum, 2017) and The Book of Anna (tr. Samantha Schnee, Coffee House Press, 2020).

Beatriz Hausner

BEATRIZ HAUSNER was born in Chile and immigrated to Canada when she was a teenager. She has published many books, including the poetry collections Enter the Raccoon, Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and She Who Lies Above. Her work has been translated into several languages, including her native Spanish, French, Dutch, and Greek. Hausner is recognized for her work as a historian and translator of Latin American surrealism. She was a founding publisher of Quattro Books. She lives Toronto.

Rhea Tregebov

RHEA TREGEBOV is an award-winning poet and the author of two novels, Rue des Rosiers and The Knife Sharpener’s Bell, and five children’s books. She is Associate Professor Emerita at the School of Creative Writing at UBC. Her eighth collection of poetry, Talking to Strangers, will be published in 2024.