Taaqtumi

Aviaq Johnston is the author of the bestselling picture book What's My Superpower?. For older children, teenagers, and grown-ups, she has written the award-winning novel Those Who Run in the Sky and its sequel, Those Who Dwell Below. She has also written the short stories "Tarnikuluk," winner of the Aboriginal Arts and Stories Award, and "The Haunted Blizzard," featured in Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories. She grew up in Igloolik, Nunavut, and now lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut, with her dog, Sunny.


Richard Van Camp is an internationally renowned storyteller and bestselling author. He was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, and is a proud member of the Dogrib (Tli?cho?) Dene Nation. He is the author of The Lesser Blessed (Douglas & McIntyre, 1996), a Canadian classic that has been adapted into a feature film with First Generation Films. He lives in Edmonton, AB, with his family.


Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the northernmost edge of Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic. She grew up learning traditional survival lore from her father. She and her husband Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.


Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the southernmost edge of Ontario, learning woodcraft from his father. He and his wife Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.


Thomas Anguti Johnston grew up moving around the Baffin region of Nunavut and northern Quebec (Nunavik). He now lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut, with his two daughters, Amy and Leah. Anguti has been involved in the Inuit political realm, mostly with the National Inuit Youth Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. He decided to pursue his passion of filmmaking and writing full-time in 2014 and hasn't looked back. Anguti has received Nunavut Commissioner's award for youth development and the Diamond Jubilee award for media arts. Anguti is a producer, writer, and lead actor, playing Inuk Qablunaaq on the popular Inuktitut television program Qanurli? on APTN.


Repo Kempt spent over fifteen years working as a criminal lawyer in the remote communities of the Canadian Arctic. He is a regular columnist for Litreactor.com and a member of the Horror Writers Association. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @repokempt.


Jay Bulckaert grew up in farm-town Ontario, then moved up North in 2001, where he has carved out a career as a filmmaker with his company Artless Collective and founded the mayhem that is the Dead North Film Festival. He lives, hunts, and creates in Yellowknife with his lady and their two cats.


Gayle "Uyagaqi" Kabloona is Ukkusiksalingmiut (from the Back River area north of Baker Lake, Nunavut). Now based in Ottawa, she is interested in blending traditional Inuit storytelling with science fiction and magic realism to create alternate realities. Gayle is an urban planner, emerging writer, and multidisciplinary artist with a focus on fibre arts, ceramics, and printmaking.


Cara Bryant holds a degree in English and Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto. She is a based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where she lives with her husband, two kids, and dog, Jenni.


K.C. Carthew is an award-winning filmmaker from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Her work across genres tends to feature the landscape as a character and speaks to the ways in which one's relationship with the environment impacts one's well-being.