Incubation
We Are All Made of Stories by Shan Powell
Storytelling is a human tradition, and stories are one of the most ancient of technologies, carrying information down through thousands of years. How do fairy tales, folktales, myths, fables, bible stories, and other ancient tales fit into modern life? Are the archetypes still relevant? Can the stories of colonizers be subverted as tools for decolonization? Shantell studies and reworks stories from a variety of traditions to discover how they translate into memoir, social commentary, Indigenous Futurism, speculative fiction, and more. Shan will read from her works in progress and answer questions about process, art, and storytelling.
Shan Powell is a 2-spirit urban Inuk with Mi’kmaq and European ancestry. A member of the Turtle Clan, she grew up on the land and sometimes off the grid. She lived in rural and remote communities from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Shan is an author, storyteller, multidisciplinary artist, forager, swamp hag, and chinchilla wrangler. A lifelong student, she is currently a writer in the Writers’ Studio at Simon Fraser University, a fellow in the Lived Experience Transformational Leadership Academy at Yale University, and a student of the Storytelling Certificate program at the Story Center in Kansas City. She studies Inuit culture and philosophy through the Alluriarniq program with Tungasuvvingat Inuit in Ottawa and is also learning Inuktitut and Anishinaabemowin. Her writing is published in Augur, Cloud Lake Literary Journal, Feminist Studies Journal, Prairie Fire, Yellow Medicine Journal, and more. Her visual art has been shown in the National Textile Museum, OCAD, and Porcelain Painters of Canada magazine. You can find more of her work at https://www.instagram.com/shanmonster/ and http://shanmonster.dreamwidth.org
Caitie Graham is a dramaturg, arts educator, playwright, and emerging screenwriter who is as excited about telling stories as she is about empowering others to do the same. Over her career, Caitie has facilitated several playwriting programs for youth and young-in-craft artists across Toronto in schools and through arts organizations like Expect Theatre (KidCAST), and Scarborough Arts (Youth Playwrights Hub). From 2017 – 2020 she was Program Director of the Young Playwrights Unit at Tarragon Theatre. In 2021, she received a mentorship opportunity through Soulpepper Theatre’s Her Words Festival, as a Rising Star Dramaturg. She is now the Company Dramaturg at Driftwood Theatre Group, and has been working with the Beyond the Bard’s Playwrights Unit and Playwright-In-Residence since 2020. Select writing credits include PARADISE COMICS (Filament Incubator) and GASH (Ergo Pink Festival). She is currently working on a feature-length animation script called BOXED IN: A SERVICE DOG STORY. It’s exactly what you think it’s about.”