Category: Panel Discussion
Introduced by Theresa Eden, Chair of the Board, Eden Mills Writers’ Festival.
Hosted by Libby Johnstone – Guelph Creative Writing MFA
Authors: Rachelle-Anne Lawka, Alexandra McKay, Catherine Downes, Unice Liem, Selena Mercuri, Jackie Goerge
Details: Sunday September 7th, 10:30am-11:30am at The Mill
For 37 years, the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival has been a platform for new and emerging writers. Join the winners of this years’ Read at the Fringe contests and some of the rising stars of the University of Guelph’s MFA program to find something entirely new — and some inspiration to put your own pen to paper.
Rachelle-Anne Lawka
Rachelle-Anne Lawka (she/her) is an emerging Canadian poet whose writing has appeared in literary magazines like PRISM International, The Ampersand Review, and more.
Alexandra McKay
Alexandra McKay is a fiction writer whose work explores modern hope and middle spaces. Her byline has appeared in Prairie Fire, Ex-Puritan, and others.
Catherine Downes
Meagan (Catherine Downes) is a writer, playwright and actor based in Guelph, Ontario. Much of her work focus’ on sexual assault, queer identities , and queer relationships. Meagan was a writer and actor for the Guelph-Wellington based project Future Food Visons, a series of audio experiences to listen to, throughout Guelph-Wellington. She is a graduate of UOG’s Theatre BAH and is currently seeking a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph. Meagan and her partner have two cats, named Poe and Lady.
Unice Liem
Unice Leim’s writing explores themes of identity, family, and current social issues through a queer lens. Originally from Germany, they now call Toronto their home.
Selena Mercuri
Selena Mercuri is a Toronto-based writer, Reviews Editor at The New Quarterly, and a book publicist at River Street. She’s currently querying her first novel.
Jackie George
Jackie George is Cuban American fiction writer from South Florida. She graduated from Harvard College with a BA in English in 2024.
E. J. Nash
E. J. Nash (she/her) is an Ottawa-based writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Western Ontario in Creative Writing and English Language & Literature. She enjoys staying up way past her bedtime in order to finish a really good book. You can find her previous publications on her website ejnashwrites.com.
E.J. is one the 2025 winners of the Read the Fringe Contest for her piece “Canberra”.
Melodie Roschman
Melodie Roschman is a writer and public educator who lives in Kitchener, Ontario. When she’s not reporting about math research for the University of Waterloo, she does esoteric deep dives for her Substack newsletter, Syllabus. She loves cooking, thrifting, and hanging out with her husband Taylor and cat Minnie.
Melodie is one the 2025 winners of the Read the Fringe Contest for her piece “Cry Night”.
Paul Sheppard
Paul Sheppard, originally from Rosseau, Ontario, currently lives with his small family of human and non-human animals in London, Ontario, where he works as a neuroscience researcher. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Grain, Contemporary Verse 2, The /tƐmz/ Review, Funicular, and others.
Paul is one the 2025 winners of the Read the Fringe Contest for his piece “freezing point feels”.