Presenters and Speakers
Our presenters and speakers include award-winning authors, editors, publishers, artists, and cultural workers rooted in community and practice. They reflect the richness, complexity, and collaborative spirit of the Pacific Northwest—grounded in place, shaped by migration, and connected across borders.
Monique Gray Smith
Opening Keynote: April 23
An award-winning, best-selling author, storyteller, and sought-after consultant, Monique is Cree and Scottish and has been deeply committed to healing, resilience, and community for over 34 years. Through her books and her presence, Monique shares wisdom, generosity, and hope across generations, inviting us to listen more deeply, care more intentionally, and lead with love.
Danny Ramadan
Speaker: April 23
Danny is a Syrian-Canadian author, storyteller, and LGBTQ+ refugees’ advocate whose work explores identity, migration, queerness, and belonging with honesty, compassion, and humour. From award-winning novels and memoir to beloved children’s books, his writing spans genres while staying deeply rooted in lived experience.
Esi Edugyan
In Conversation with Megan Stuart: April 23
Two-time Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, two-time Man Booker finalist, and the brilliant mind behind Washington Black and Half-Blood Blues. Esi has a gift for uncovering untold stories from history’s margins and bringing them to vivid life. Based right here in Victoria, Esi will be joining us at the Summit to share insights on storytelling, craft, and the power of centring voices that history tried to sideline.
Susan Pi
Workshop Presenter: April 22
Susan Pi is the founder and publisher of Rebel Goose Books, a children’s publishing house on Vancouver Island. Bringing 15 years of experience across trade, nonprofit, and digital publishing, her work focuses on connecting story and community from the earliest stages of a project to extend a book’s impact beyond launch.
Workshop: Beyond the Book Launch
Kristopher Grunert
Workshop Presenter: April 22
Kristopher Grunert is a Canadian photographer, artist, and creator of Photography as Meditation, a framework that uses the camera as a gateway to mindfulness and embodied awareness. Through workshops and talks, he guides participants into deeper presence, curiosity, and creative flow by transforming the act of seeing into a practice of meditation.
Workshop: Photography as Meditation
Casey Milone
Keynote Speaker: April 22
Casey Milone is an author and creative director who has spent his career at the intersection of technology and human communication. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Numonic — an organization and compliance tool for AI creators and AI agents. Numonic’s mission centers around building trust to the AI industry and bringing memory to computer imagination.
Prem Gill
April 23: Theatre of Authors opening remarks
Prem Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of Creative BC, the agency designated by the Province of British Columbia to unite, sustain, and grow the province’s dynamic and diverse creative sector. This includes motion picture, music and sound recording, interactive and digital media, and magazine and book publishing.
Megan Stuart
April 23: Host of In Conversation with Esi Edugyan
Megan Stuart is a storyteller at heart whose career has moved fluidly between newsrooms, government corridors, creative stages, and community spaces. Megan hosts conversations with warmth, curiosity, and the rare ability to make people feel seen—whether they’re award winning authors or emerging voices finding their way to the page.
Gerard Keledjian
April 23: Our Creative Ecosystem
Gerard Keledjian is the Founder and Managing Director of New Horizons Media Inc., a multicultural social enterprise that specializes in creative services, storytelling, and newcomer marketing.