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Picture It: Readings and Conversation

With Matthew J. Trafford, katherena vermette, Mollie Cronin, Eleanor Hannon, Veronica Post, and Gabrielle Drolet

Friday, November 7
7:30PM – 10:00PM (Doors open at 7:00PM)
The Bus Stop Theatre
$15.00

Description

We start the evening with readings by Matthew J. Trafford (Runs in the Blood) and katherena vermette (Real Ones, Procession). Then it’s a celebration of graphic novels featuring Mollie Cronin (Future Me is Fat), Eleanor Hannon (City Mouse), and Veronica Post (Let the Good Times Roll) in conversation with Gabrielle Drolet (Look Ma, No Hands).

Speakers

  • Matthew J. Trafford (he/him) holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. His first collection of stories, The Divinity Gene (Douglas & McIntyre), garnered critical acclaim in the US and Canada. He continues to write and teach fiction and has recently developed a fibre arts practice, knitting and designing knitwear as Fairy Godfather Knits. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

  • katherena vermette (she/her/hers) is a Michif (Red River Métis) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis Nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 2013, her first book, North End Love Songs (Muses’ Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Since then, her work has garnered awards and critical accolades across genres. Her novels The Break (House of Anansi) and The Strangers, The Circle (Hamish Hamilton) and most recently, real ones (Hamish Hamilton) have all been national best sellers and won multiple literary awards. Her work for children and young adults includes the picture book The Girl and The Wolf (Theytus) and graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo (Highwater). She also co-wrote and co-directed This River, winner of the 2017 Canadian Screen Award for Best Short Documentary. Her third book of poetry, procession (House of Anansi) will be out Sep 30/25. Born in Winnipeg, her Michif roots on her paternal side run deep in St. Boniface, St. Norbert and beyond. Her maternal side is Mennonite from the Altona and Rosenfeld area (Treaty 1). She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, and an honourary Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba. katherena lives with her family in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River.

  • Mollie Cronin is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer from Mi'kmaki (Halifax, NS, and Fredericton, NB). She often publishes under the pen-name “Art Brat Comics” and is known for her humorous takes on life in the Maritimes, dating, and diet culture. She is a current PHD student at York University in the school of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. “Future Me is Fat” is her first solo book project. Gabrielle Drolet is a cartoonist and writer based in Montreal. Her written work about disability and culture has appeared in the New York Times, Walrus, Teen Vogue, and more. She regularly contributes cartoons to the New Yorker and the Globe and Mail.

  • Eleanor Hannon is an artist and writer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since 2014 she has been drawing and taking photos daily, creating an archive of her personal life in relation to the ever-changing city around her. Lately, this approach has broadened to include curating and hosting art, literary and musical events at her café, Ramblers (est. 2021). Creating a space where artists can express themselves is an important part of her work and the documentation and posters she makes for these events have become another layer in her visual database. In 2024 she founded a community newsletter called The Ambler, which she self-publishes monthly.

  • Veronica Post is a certified cabinetmaker, writer and illustrator based in Halifax, Nova Scotia/Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki. She creates graphic novels based on her travels, weaving philosophy, social commentary and humour into stories of a not-so-ordinary life.

  • Gabrielle Drolet is a cartoonist and writer based in Montreal. Her written work about disability and culture has appeared in the New York Times, Walrus, Teen Vogue, and more. She regularly contributes cartoons to the New Yorker and the Globe and Mail.