After turning to spoken word at age fifty, IF became a two-time Canadian Slam Champion, placed third at the World Cup of Slam in Paris, and was the subject of a CBC documentary. Now based in Montreal's Plateau, he recently published his first full-length poetry collection, In The Palace Of The Present Moment, with local publisher Cactus Press.

META-winning theatre actor and vocalist Augusta Wind transitioned into the drag world during the pandemic after graduating from John Abbott College’s Professional Theatre program and winning Mado’s Drag Moi in 2022. Now a staple of Montreal’s queer performance scene, she produces monthly cabaret and drag nights at Club DDs alongside hosting her street-interview series, The Winds of our Lives.

Montréal-based composer, sound engineer, and producer Racine, creates experimental soundscapes spanning solo albums, film compositions, and collaborative projects like the duo Corporation. His work blends creative sampling, experimental turntablism, and cinematic elements, earning international acclaim alongside releases on labels such as Haunter Records and Danse Noire.

Kalden Rangdröl Dhatsenpa is a Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal-based Tibetan writer, poet, photographer, community journalist, and host of the local news podcast Local 514. His work, spanning lyrical poetry, photography, and nascent musical projects, explores Tibetan perspectives within a North American settler context, travel, and the interplay between urban spaces and the surrounding country.

Kimberly Orjuela is a Colombian artist based in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie who holds a BFA from Concordia University and specializes in ceramic sculpture. Her practice draws deep inspiration from pre-Columbian ceramics, ancient cosmologies, and Colombia's rich biodiversity to explore themes of collective care and decolonial thinking.

Marshall Diabo is an award-winning Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk)/mixed-heritage competitive dancer, choreographer, and instructor based in the Plateau. With a decade of powwow and street dance experience to the stage, he blends hiphop and contemporary styles to elevate queer, 2-spirit, and polyamorous representation in Montreal's arts scene.

Hakeem Lapointe (Amselysen) is an Outremont-based recording artist, visual artist, and founder of the EAF label. Morphing experimental, ambient, noise, and punk into confrontational leftfield electronic music, he builds titles and visual scenarios before composing to strike a perfect balance between deep emotional affect and sharp aesthetic innovation.

Carolyne Van Der Meer is an Old Montreal-based journalist, poet, and author of five published books whose work spans international articles, essays, and multi-disciplinary poetry collections. Obsessed with the sudden structural turns of a poem, her writing embraces an economy of words and minimalist punctuation to create space for quiet reader connection.

Double Curve is a Mile End and Little Italy-based indie rock trio formed in 2024 by longtime collaborators from Montreal’s underground music scene. Moving between nervous energy and hypnotic momentum, the band combines abrasive, 90s-inspired textures with melodic undercurrents ahead of their debut LP release later this year.

Gillian Sze is an NDG-based poet and children’s author whose work has earned the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the QWF’s A. M. Klein Poetry Prize. An instructor at Concordia University, her slow and attentive practice spans award-winning poetry collections and celebrated children's books translated into multiple languages.