Each of these authors combine the unexpected—either writing in many genres across works, or blending multiple genres in one book. The result, in every case, is a work as fascinating for its form as its story. Bestselling author Camilla Gibb’s debut poetry collection, I Used to Be a Pisces, weaves poems of hope, grief, and the persistent pursuit of renewal with her original collage work. Straddling fiction and memoir, Ten Clear Days delves into the story of author Eric Beck Rubin’s grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who requested medical assistance in dying in her final days. Anakana Schofield‘s previous book won the Amazon First Novel Award; she brings readers on a madcap journey through implausible architecture and syntactic innovation in Library of Brothel. Moderated by Vancouver Poet Laureate Elee Kraljii Gardiner.
Participation of Eric Beck Rubin made possible thanks to the generous support of Sam Znaimer in memory of Nancy Richler.
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ELEE KRALJII GARDINER is the author of serpentine loop, Trauma Head, and sometimes, forest. She was the editor of the anthologies V6A: Writing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Against Death: 35 Essays on Living. Kraljii Gardiner works across disciplines and administers the Warland Award for hybrid literature. She is Vancouver's seventh poet laureate.
CAMILLA GIBB is the internationally acclaimed author of five novels: Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and-so’s Life, Sweetness in the Belly, The Beauty of Humanity Movement, and The Relatives. She is also the author of the RBC Taylor Prize–shortlisted memoir This Is Happy. Gibb has received the Trillium Book Award and the City of Toronto Book Award and has been shortlisted for the Giller Prize. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Victoria College, University of Toronto.
ERIC BECK RUBIN is a Novelist, Cultural Historian and Lecturer. He has taught internationally, including at the University of Toronto and Bergen Arkitektskole, and consulted for institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario and Facing History. His debut novel School of Velocity was named one of the Guardian’s Best Books of the Year, and his second novel Ten Clear Days was published in April 2026.
ANAKANA SCHOFIELD is the author of four acclaimed novels: Library of Brothel, Bina, Martin John and Malarky, which have won and been nominated for numerous literary awards. Her essays and columns appear regularly in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. She’s written for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Irish Times and Book Post. She lives in Vancouver, BC.
