CBC

Emma Donoghue, Conor Kerr and katherena vermette among writers at 2025 Frye Festival in Moncton

Conor Kerr is a Metis/Ukrainian national award losing author from Edmonton. He is the author of the poetry collections, Old Gods, An Explosion of Feathers and Beaver Hills Forever, and the novels Prairie Edge and Avenue of Champions.

Emma Donoghue is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and playwright. Her novel Room has sold almost three million copies and the film adaptation was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Her historical fiction novels The Wonder and The Pull of the Stars were nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

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 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 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.