Kirti Bhadresa* lives in Calgary, Alberta on Treaty 7 territory. Kirti has published fiction and non-fiction writing in several literary journals including The Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire and Room Magazine. 

Her first book, a short story collection entitled An Astonishment of Stars was published in October 2024 by ECW Press.

An Astonishment of Stars was on the CBC Most Anticipated list and went on to become an indie bestseller. It was a 2025 Writers’ Guild of Alberta Fiction Finalist, was longlisted for the 2025 Giller Prize and won the 2026 Alberta Short Story Collection prize.

Subsequent writing projects, including a novel in progress, have been supported with grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Calgary Arts Development.

Kirti is a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. She is represented by Carolyn Forde at Transatlantic Agency.

* pronounced KEERTH-ee bah-DRAY-sah

Contact:  kbhadresa(at)protonmail.com

Instagram: @beingkirti