Literary arts

What makes a person a hero? Guppie searches for the answer across an eye-opening family road trip.

A Summer of Dragonflies, a new book written by award-winning Edmonton author Natasha Deen, will be officially released on September 13, 2025. 

A Summer of Dragonflies is a humorous, heart-filled, family-oriented book about a cross-continent road trip. Terminally shy Guppie decides to use the trip as an opportunity to reinvent herself into a courageous hero like the ones in her favorite books. At first, Guppie tries to prove that she’s a hero through helping others and being bold, but she comes to understand that true courage means owning up to one’s mistakes and making amends.

A Summer of Dragonflies will be available for purchase at retailers on September 13, 2025. The book is intended for readers aged 9-12. 

Natasha Deen and is a best-selling and award-winning Guyanese-Canadian author, with books for children, young adults, and adults. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. Her novel In the Key of Nira Ghani won the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award. Her works have also been nominated for the OLA Forest of Reading Red Maple Award, R. Ross Annett Award, Sunburst Award, Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, and Alberta Readers’ Choice Award. Natasha teaches in the Creative Writing Program with the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

For more information about A Summer of Dragonflies and Natasha Deen, visit natashadeen.com. 

Join us at the Citadel Theatre (9828 101A Ave) in Edmonton on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 for a captivating talk by internationally acclaimed author Yann Martel, whose Man Booker Prize–winning novel Life of Pi has enchanted millions of readers around the world. In “Fiction and the Shipwrecked Reader,” Martel will reflect on Life of Pi, from its creation to its celebrated adaptations for film and stage, all while exploring the deeper relationship between fiction and reality.

Martel’s work has been published in more than 50 territories, sold over 15 million copies, and inspired both an Oscar-winning film and a Tony Award–winning Broadway play. In addition to Life of Pi, he is the author of The High Mountains of Portugal, Beatrice and Virgil, Self, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. His forthcoming novel, Son of Nobody, will be released in spring 2026. Martel lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Don’t miss this chance to hear one of Canada’s most celebrated literary voices discuss storytelling, imagination, and the enduring power of fiction.

The evening's schedule is as follows:

6:00 PM – Doors open
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM – Program and Talk by Yann Martel
8:15 PM - 9:00 PM – Yann Martel Book Signing – Tucker Amphitheatre

This event is presented in partnership by the Edmonton Public Library and The Citadel Theatre. It is generously supported by the City of Edmonton’s Downtown Vibrancy Fund.

Tickets are available here.

Calling all Writers: Open Submissions Now Live!

Do you have a story to share? Wild Skies Press is now seeking submissions for upcoming book titles. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry–we want to hear from you! Submit now to be considered for the 2026-2027 season, with early submissions highly encouraged. Don’t miss the chance to bring your work to life with a publisher that values your voice. 

Click here for more details about our submissions process and to learn about what makes Wild Skies Press the right publisher for you.

Announcing the third year of The Prairie Grindstone Prize — a $50,000 literary award that acknowledges a hardworking, engaged prairie writer. 

Nominations for The Prairie Grindstone Prize open on April 1 and will close on May 15 at midnight.

This annual prize, funded by an anonymous donor committee, alternates between the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This year, the prize will be awarded to an Alberta writer. The Prairie Grindstone Prize recognizes prairie writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a cash prize of $50,000 that will enable the writer to focus on their work for a year or more.

This is not a book prize. It is awarded in acknowledgement of an author’s body of work and their contribution to the public’s appreciation for and understanding of Western Canada’s landscape, people, history, and culture.

The writer must have been a resident of the province of Alberta for the past five years, have a minimum of four professionally published books, and be an active member of the local writing community.

Authors may not self nominate and recipients will be selected by a jury of peers.

Full nomination guidelines can be found here: www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca/nominate Letters of nomination and inquiries can be sent to grindstoneprize@gmail.com 

For more information, please contact
Lisa Murphy Lamb, Jury Chair
Jun Lee, Marketing
e: grindstoneprize@gmail.com 

www.prairiegrindstoneprize.ca
IG: @prairiegrindstoneprize
FB: Prairie Grindstone Prize