Edmonton Comes to Calgary: Lisa Martin in conversation with Julie Sedivy
In the spirit of deepening the literary connections between Alberta’s two major cities, this new reading series showcases the work and career trajectory of an Edmonton-based writer. Our inaugural author is Lisa Martin, whose writing is both tender and complex, making room for the many paradoxes of human experience. Join us for a reading and in-depth conversation in which we’ll explore her preoccupations with faith, profound loss, uncertainty, and healing.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Lisa Martin is the author of two full-length collections of poetry--One Crow Sorrow (Brindle & Glass, 2008) and Believing is not the Same as Being Saved (University of Alberta Press, 2017). She is co-editor of How to Expect What You're Not Expecting: Stories of Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Loss, an anthology of literary essays that won the bronze medal in the international IPPY (Independent Publishers) Awards in the Parenting category in 2015. Her work has won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry (2008), a National Magazine Award for Personal Journalism (2012), and the James H. Gray Award for Short Non-Fiction (2022), and has been shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize (2018). Creative Writing in Post-Secondary Education: Practice, Pedagogy, and Research, a blend of memoir and scholarly review, was published by Bloomsbury Academic in Spring 2025. Her first novel, A Story Can Be Told About Pain, appeared with NeWest Press in Spring 2025. Her third full-length collection of poetry, Nighthawks, is forthcoming with University of Alberta Press in Spring 2026. She is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at MacEwan University in Edmonton on Treaty 6 Territory.
Julie Sedivy is a writer and linguist whose work straddles scientific and literary worlds. Her book Memory Speaks (Harvard University Press) was shortlisted for two Alberta Literary Awards and was named by The Economist as one of the top five books about language in a “golden age” of language writing. Her most recent book, Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), won the W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize and was a finalist for the Alberta Memoir Award. Linguaphile was listed as a Best Book of 2024 by The New Yorker and Kirkus. Julie has contributed writing to outlets such as Nautilus, Discover, Scientific American, the Literary Review of Canada, EuropeNow, Aeon + Psyche, and Politico. She is the co-editor (with Rona Altrows) of Waiting, a collection of personal essays (University of Alberta Press), and the co-author (with Souad Shehab) of Ayah and the Big World Outside, a forthcoming children’s book to be published by Orca. She is a citizen of three countries, and now makes her home on the achingly beautiful lands of Treaty 7.
You may also like the following events from Shelf Life Books:
- This month, 21st October, 07:00 pm, TRIPLE LAUNCH: ryan fitzpatrick, Conor Kerr & Jason Purcell in Calgary
- This month, 28th October, 07:00 pm, Book Launch: Honeydew by Ben Zalkind in Calgary
- This month, 29th October, 07:00 pm, LAUNCH: ABODE BY JUN-LONG LEE in Calgary
Also check out other
Arts events in Calgary,
Literary Art events in Calgary.
