Patrick Grace, managing editor
Patrick Grace is a queer writer living on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples. He has published two chapbooks: Dastardly (Anstruther Press, 2021), and a blurred wind swirls back for you (Turret House Press, 2023). His debut poetry collection, Deviant, was published in 2024 with University of Alberta Press. Follow him on Instagram: @thepoetpatrick
Amanda Merpaw, associate poetry editor
Amanda Merpaw (she/her) is a queer writer and editor from Ottawa, currently based in Toronto (Treaty 13). She is the author of the collection Most of All the Wanting (Palimpsest Press, 2024) and the chapbook Put the Ghosts Down Between Us (Anstruther Press, 2021). Amanda has been a finalist for Arc’s Poem of the Year contest, The Fiddlehead Fiction Contest, and the Montreal Fiction Prize, and her writing has appeared in various magazines, including The Capilano Review, CV2, Grain, and Prairie Fire. She is currently a member of the editorial board at Anstruther Press.
Loch Baillie, associate poetry editor
Originally from Massachusetts, Loch Baillie (he/him) is a queer writer and editor now based in Quebec City. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks, ice, dove parachute (Cactus Press) and Citronella (Anstruther Press), as well as the forthcoming collection River Running (icehouse poetry/Goose Lane Editions, 2026). Loch’s writing has appeared in magazines such as Maclean’s, Font, yolk literary, and Ahoy. He currently serves as poet-in-residence for the Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence and is pursuing his MA in English literature at Université Laval. You can find him online @lochbaillie or by visiting www.lochbaillie.com
L’Amour Lisik, associate prose editor
L’Amour Lisik (she/they) is a queer writer and artist of Chinese Mauritian/Scottish settler descent who lives on the unceded traditional territories of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples (Victoria, BC). She holds a BFA in Writing from the University of Victoria, where they focused on poetry and creative nonfiction. L’Amour also works as Managing Editor for The Malahat Review.
Joelle Kidd, associate prose editor
Joelle Kidd (she/her) is a writer, award-winning journalist, and editor who lives in a book-filled basement apartment in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her work has appeared in outlets such as The Walrus, This Magazine, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, and Xtra Magazine. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph. Her first book, Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down Wolrd of Christian Pop Culture, is forthcoming from ECW Press in August 2025.
Shawn Syms, book reviews editor
Shawn Syms (he/him) is a queer author and critic based in Toronto/Tkaronto. His reviews have appeared in the National Post, Quill & Quire, Xtra, Canadian Literature, Our Times, Foreword Reviews, Gay and Lesbian Review, Literary Review of Canada and elsewhere. His fiction has been shortlisted for the Journey Prize.
Julia Peterson, board member
Bio forthcoming
Kirandeep Randhawa, board member
Kirandeep Randhawa (she/her) is a queer Indian settler born and raised in Toronto. Out of an abundance of love for the city and those in it, she has worked in various community health and education-related programs, from supporting racialized young people’s transition into post-secondary education to consulting on projects for improving access to birth control. Kirandeep completed her BA in Political Science at the University of Toronto and her MA in Social Justice & Community Engagement at Wilfrid Laurier University where she researched fertility funding through a reproductive justice lens. She is currently a literacy professional, reproductive justice researcher, and a really big fan of public libraries.
Ari Lord, board member
Ari Lord’s fiction has been longlisted for the 2020 CBC Short Story Prize, 2022 Jacob Zilber Prize and nominated for the 2020 Sundress Press Best of Net Awards. Published in The Malahat Review, The Ex-Puritan, Plenitude, Foglifter, Minola, and elsewhere. They work as a freelance Writer & Editor and are a year-long Writer-in-Residence for an arts organization, Civic, in Nelson, BC (unceded Sinixt territory). They recently finished their first novel and are writing another, supported by the Canada and BC arts councils. They are passionate about queer literature and enjoy being outside with their dog and growing a large garden. @SLordAlmighty arilord.ca
Xen Virtue, board member
Xen Virtue (he/him) is a queer, transgender writer and editor. His writing aims to celebrate the complexities of joy, grief, and lust in queer and transgender people’s lives. He is currently finishing a master’s program at the University of Calgary, where he studies queer young adult HIV/AIDS literature.
Andrea Routley, founding editor
Andrea Routley is the editor of Walk Myself Home: An Anthology to End Violence Against Women (Caitlin Press, 2010). She is the author of Jane and the Whales (Caitlin Press, 2013), which was a finalist for the 2014 Lambda Literary Award. Her writing has appeared in magazines such as The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead, and Room Magazine. She completed a degree in writing from the University of Victoria, and now lives on the Sunshine Coast, BC, where she works as a piano tuner, library programmer, and serves on the board of Sunday in the Park with Pride Society, an organization dedicated to creating community for LGBTQ2 youth on the Sunshine Coast.