2026 Recognized Artists — Literary
Emerging Professional Artists
Photo Credit: Ali Lauren Creative Services
Courtney Bates-Hardy, author
Regina
“... what fuels my writing is the desire to help people feel less alone in things they’re struggling with ...”
Courtney Bates-Hardy is the author of Anatomical Venus (2024), House of Mystery (2016), and a chapbook, Sea Foam (2013). Her poems have been featured in Best Canadian Poetry and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She won the City of Regina Writing Award in 2025 for her manuscript-in-progress, We Want to Live Like Trees. She is queer and neurodivergent, and one-quarter of a writing group called The Pain Poets. The group’s first collaborative chapbook, Prairie Queers, will be released in Spring 2026 with Gridlock Lit.
What fuels Courtney: “Part of what fuels my writing is the desire to help people feel less alone in things they’re struggling with, particularly chronic pain in Anatomical Venus. It’s incredibly validating to hear from readers who have found something familiar in my writing that spoke to them. My writing group is also such a strong support in my artistic practice; we keep each other on track, offer encouragement and advice, and provide feedback on our works in progress. It’s important to have a community that understands and supports you, and I’ve found that in Saskatchewan.”
“Her latest book, Anatomical Venus, was shortlisted for two Saskatchewan Book Awards in 2025 and was featured on The Miramichi Reader's Best Poetry Books of 2024. She also took the book on a reading tour to seven Canadian cities with funding from SK Arts and The Canada Council for the Arts.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: Ali Lauren Creative Services
Tea Gerbeza, artist and writer
Regina
“I’ve found that there is power to genuine connection and witnessing someone else’s story.”
Tea Gerbeza is a neuroqueer disabled writer and multimedia artist with a very loud laugh. She is the author of How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press, 2025), which was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust 2025 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for 2SLGBTQ+ emerging writers. She is also one of four Pain Poets and co-author of their forthcoming chapbook, Prairie Queers.
What fuels Tea: “Connection fuels me as an artist. The queer disabled love and care I receive from my community gives me the motivation and courage to create the art that I do. My writing often engages with traumatic experiences that I’ve lived through, and I’ve found that there is power to genuine connection and witnessing someone else’s story that makes hardships feel less lonely. I hope my poetry makes someone feel held in the same way I have.”
“How I Bend Into More was a finalist for a 2025 Writers’ Trust Prize and is in Contemporary Verse 2's educational resource for high school students. In 2022, Tea won the Ex-Puritan’s Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence for poetry. She is a finalist for a 2026 YWCA Women of Distinction Award.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Photo courtesy of the artist.
Suzy Krause, author
Regina
“There is no better feeling than creating a story and having people read it and relate to it ...”
Suzy Krause is a bestselling author from the Saskatchewan prairies. Her most recent novel, I Think We've Been Here Before, was an Amazon First Reads pick, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, and winner of the 2025 Glengarry Book Award. It was the winner of the 2025 City of Regina Book Award. It was shortlisted for the Book of the Year Award, the Fiction Award, and the Saskatchewan Publishing Award at the 2025 Saskatchewan Book Awards. Suzy lives in Regina and is currently working on her fourth novel.
What fuels Suzy: “For me, writing has always been about connection. There is no better feeling than creating a story and having people read it and relate to it—relate to me. I sometimes struggle with feeling misunderstood, or like I'm not very good at connecting with people, so to have this space to do that in, where it feels more natural, is such a gift.”
“I Think We've Been Here Before was a 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, winner of a 2025 Saskatchewan Book Award and was shortlisted for three more SBAs. It was chosen by the Literary Press Group of Canada as one of their 50 favourite reads from the past 50 years and has been optioned for film.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Photo credit: Robin Schlaht
Iryn Tushabe, writer, independent journalist
Regina
“Writing allows me the freedom to think and create outside of what I’ve been taught is right or wrong.”
Iryn Tushabe is a Ugandan Canadian writer and journalist living on Treaty 4 territory in Regina, Saskatchewan. Most recently, her nonfiction has appeared in Literary Hub, The Walrus and in the trace press anthology River in an Ocean: Essays on Translation. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Journey Prize Stories, volumes 30 and 33. She was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing (2021) and won the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize (2023). Her debut novel, Everything is Fine Here, was released in 2025.
What fuels Iryn: “Writing allows me the freedom to think and create outside of what I’ve been taught is right or wrong. I get to sit alone for hours ‘speaking’ in my own voice, refusing to repeat the words of others.”
“Everything Is Fine Here is longlisted for the 2026 CBC Canada Reads competition, listed on CBC’s 2025 Best Canadian Fiction list, nominated for the 2026 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award (Canada’s largest recreational reading program) and is one of Brittle Paper’s 100 Notable African Books of 2025.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: KRF Photography
Carson Walliser, actor, playwright, designer
Swift Current
“I want to make a place for the audience to live with the characters in the story ...”
Carson Walliser is an actor, playwright and designer originally from Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He completed his BA in Theatre at the University of Regina and his diploma in Musical Theatre at MacEwan University. His work focuses on Canadiana, Queerness, and Nostalgia. He aims to write stories where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where intimate scene work and spectacle meet and where heart always wins over cynicism. As an actor, some recent credits include: Orpheus, Psyche and others in Metamorphoses, Vasil and others in Paper Wheat, George Gibbs in Our Town and Annette in his original musical Annette is a Bimbo!.
What fuels Carson: “In my writing, I want to make a place for the audience to live with the characters in the story that feels immersive. A place that encourages people to be colourful, weird and silly in a space made for them. Joy, celebration and queerness were the leading ideas for "Annette!" and continue to inspire me as I work. The absence of seeing queer people live happy and fulfilling lives is detrimental and I hope to show that our experience matters.”
“The publication of Carson Walliser’s “Annette is a Bimbo!” centres connection between family, identity and community through sharp humour and joyful heartfelt storytelling. Its publication connects Queer prairie experiences to wider audiences at a time when Queer rights are being challenged.”
– from Angeline Lypka’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: Trevor Hopkin
Dr. Ken Wilson, writer, teacher
Regina
“A desire to connect: with the land, with other people, with myself, with the truth of our history.”
Ken Wilson is an assistant professor in the Department of English & Creative Writing at the University of Regina. His essay, “The Bear on the Path to Tofino,” won the 2025 McNally Robinson Bookseller’s Creative Nonfiction Contest and will appear in Prairie Fire this summer. His first book, Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place from the Side of the Road, has won the 2025-2026 Dean’s Prize for Accessible Scholarly Writing from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Regina; its manuscript won the 2022 City of Regina Writing Award. His second book, Walking Well, is forthcoming in June 2026.
What fuels Ken: “A desire to connect: with the land, with other people, with myself, with the truth of our history.”
“Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place from the Side of the Road was published in 2025 and reviewed in Harper’s and The Literary Review of Canada. Its manuscript won the City of Regina Writing Award in 2022 and the President’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award at the University of Regina in 2023.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Established Artists and Arts Leaders
Photo Credit: Yvan Lebel
David Baudemont, writer, playwright
Saskatoon
“My relationship with the world changes with my ability to project myself beyond the windows.”
David was born in France and has lived in Saskatoon since 1992. After more than 15 years of writing children's novels, earning three Saskatchewan Book Awards, he turned to more mature creative forms. His recent publications are the culmination of a 10-year literary-artistic cycle around the theme "picture as a window open to the world." Initially, texts derived from his own watercolour paintings, including Lignes de fuites (2015). More recently, his drawings inspired Derrière chaque horizon (2023) and Fenêtre sur cour (2024). David’s play, Orange aux Pays des angles, was presented at The Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes (FMTM).
What fuels David: “For over 25 years, I have crossed swords with musicians, writers, visual artists and actor puppeteers. As a creator, I am therefore more of a "we" than an "I," as much for economic reasons as for the appeal of sharing with my peers. My relationship with the world changes with my ability to project myself beyond the windows. A form of poetic vision becomes a creative way of reinterpreting the world. Stillness and contemplation play a key role. Reconciliation with the world happens slowly, the slow pace is perhaps the condition of our recovery.”
“David Baudemont is a published and produced playwright, an essayist, novelist and poet. In addition to his publications, he is also a major force in the promotion and development of authors in the Fransaskois community as well as the Francophone communities of Western and Northern Canada.”
– from Bruce McKay’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: Ali Lauren Creative Services
Miguel Fenrich, professional literary artist
Saskatoon
“... the act of community work and care, the act of being an audacity-driven artist—is a political act.”
Miguel Fenrich (he/him) is a queer, black professional artist and owner of House of Fenrich, living and playing on Treaty 6 Territory. As a Truthteller and future Historian, his work often explores life through intersectional, anti-racist and decolonial lenses. He is the author of Blue: a Novel and What Lies in the Valley. He is the President of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, a recipient of the QEII Platinum Jubilee Medal and a 2026 CBC Saskatchewan Future 40 Winner. He received the Tony and Herb Rainbow Award for Literary and Visual Artists in 2025 and is working on his third novel.
What fuels Miguel: "We must recognize that the act of storytelling, the act of community work and care, the act of being an audacity-driven artist—is a political act.”
“Miguel is an established Saskatchewan literary artist with 2 published novels (3rd underway). He is president of the Sask Writers’ Guild, has been published in magazines, and does frequent readings and guest talks. He has made a significant artistic impact through his writing and volunteer work.”
– from Brianne Hager’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: Rammy Sohal Photography
Melanie Schnell, author, creative writing professor
Regina
“Since I was able to write and read, I have been called to facilitate this human experience through the power of words.”
Melanie spent one year in East Africa researching her first novel, While the Sun is Above Us, published by Freehand Books. Her second novel, The Chorus Beneath Our Feet, which centers on the history of the British Home Children, was published by Radiant Press in October 2025. She has written for television and has published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Melanie’s poetry won the SWG’s Manuscript Awards, and her television scripts have aired on SCN and CBC. Her fiction placed second twice in the City of Regina Awards, and her poetry and fiction were longlisted for the Literary Seminars contests.
What fuels Melanie: “When people ask me why I write, I tell them it’s because I’m a storyteller. But there is more to it, of course. All of us swim inside of story, we breathe it in through songs, advertisements, texts, children’s rhymes, YouTube videos. Story is everywhere; it is the great connector. The dense, honed, concise forms of story, such as novels, act as ways for us to see ourselves more clearly, to experience the other and to heal, individually and societally. Since I was able to write and read, I have been called to facilitate this human experience through the power of words.”
“While the Sun Is Above Us won the City of Regina Award and a Saskatchewan Book Award and was shortlisted for two more SBAs in 2013. It is also included in the SK public and Catholic schools' curriculum. The Chorus Beneath Our Feet was a runner up for the SWG City of Regina Writing Award in 2017.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement
Photo Credit: Daniel Paquet
Tara Dawn Solheim, singer, poet, DJ
Regina
“... creates a web of interconnection that is endlessly intriguing to my artistic creation.”
Tara Dawn Solheim is an interdisciplinary artist who explores language, poetry, and melody. Her artistic practice combines music creation, a cappella singing, performance poetry and somatic exploration. Tara Dawn has performed in many contexts throughout Canada & Japan. She lived in Tokyo for 5 years, where she performed with several music collectives. She also spins music as a DJ. Tara Dawn has attended residencies including the Banff Centre, St. Peter’s Abbey, and Wallace Stegner House. She will soon attend Can Serrat International Artist Residency in Spain. She is a recent recipient of a Saskatchewan Foundation for the Arts Endowment Award.
What fuels Tara Dawn: “As an artist, I work in different contexts and across genres. The opportunity to share an experience with an audience and together remember how to soften into the subtleties of the present – physically, mentally, and emotionally – creates a web of interconnection that is endlessly intriguing to my artistic creation.”
“Tara was executive director of Sage Hill Writing for 10 years. She oversaw a period of growth for the organization, increased funding, developed new community partnerships and strengthened existing relationships, developed and introduced online writing programs and implemented program improvements.”
– from Sabrina Cataldo’s nomination statement