I can’t wait to host the Calgary launch of ​Rishi Midha’s debut story collection at Shelf Life Books!

Registration and details here.

I’ll be reading at the 2nd annual Elbow Book Show, This event celebrates books, bookselling, writing, and publishing in southern Alberta! Featuring vendors selling bookish wares, local authors doing readings, panels on various literary topics, and the chane to rub elbows with other book lovers in the city.

The Personal is Political and The Political is Personal! Activism and Advocacy Through Fiction

Join Calgary authors Kirti Bhadresa, Ann Cavlovic, Amande Leduc and moderator Ben Zalkind as they offer a primer on fiction as an incubator of political imagination. To make the invisible vibrantly visible is a political as well as an aesthetic act. Stories offer a glimpse into the lives of the forgotten. They provide the raw material for the creation of brand new universes and histories. Through narratives of struggle and triumph, writers and readers alike can see not just what is, but also what could be. This panel will excavate fiction’s rich political terrain, where ideas take shape, the stories of the unseen come into clear view, and we are reminded of what it means to be a human being in a world that leaves its personalized impression on all of us.

So bring your fire and curiosity! This rousing talk promises to offer an empowering and hopeful message to writers and readers everywhere. The world needs bold, passionate, and humane writers now more than ever.

Whirl of Words hosted by Jess Nicol, featuring readings by Rod Moody-Corbett, Aaron Tucker, Anna Veprinska and me, Kirti

Fun and irreverent, Toronto's hottest fiction reading series. Find your next read, mingle with authors and Can Lit. professionals. VIP Canadian authors reading, industry pros giving panels and advice, bookstore on site. Come find your next great Canadian novel! Eat, drink, mingle, listen, BUY ALL the BOOKS. Drunk Fiction's monthly event has become Toronto's hottest reading series - come and hang with us for an irreverent, fun evening! Featuring Anuja Varghese, Michael Redhill, Antonio Michael Downing, Kirti Bhadresa and many more. Hosted by author Emily A Weedon.I'll be in Toronto on July 16, 2026 to participate in Drunk Fiction, an all day extravaganza of authors and literary events.

Thank you to Calgary Arts Development for funding my participation in this event.

Join me for Author Night in Caroline on Friday June 26, 2026

Presented by Sandra McIntyre, hosted by Kirti Bhadresa this webinar provides the seven basic points of novel structure. This workshop is suitable for both emerging and experienced fiction writers. The presentation is followed by a moderated Q&A session. 

Celebrating Emily Weedon's new release, Homo Sapiens, I'll be joining a group of writers for Drunk Fiction at Calgary fave The Ship and Anchor on October 5, 2025. Shelf Life will be there with books for sale too!

The Art of the Short Story and/or Essay (with the intent to publish) Workshop | 1 hour 30 minutes

Intermediate Writers

Hoping to publish short stories or essays in provincial and/or national magazines, or a short story collection through a Canadian publisher? Many beloved writers of the 20th century perfected how to make every word count — learn to do the same.

This workshop will explore the nuances of writing shorter pieces and publishing within the Canadian landscape.

An Astonishment of Stars is one of three finalists for the 2025 Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction. I'm excited to join with other finalists to read on Friday April 25.