Speaking & Workshops
I enjoy inspiring people to look at craft, art and design in new and radical ways.
As an author and maker, I’ve delivered over a hundred lectures and workshops at galleries, conferences, bookstores, classrooms and libraries. I’ve conducted two North American-wide book tours: in 2011, I visited seven cities in a solo tour, and in 2014 I took part in an epic nine-city tour with authors Betsy Greer and Kim Werker in panel discussions at Powell’s Books during Portland Design Week, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. In 2022, I toured across Canada visiting the Toronto International Festival of Authors, Kingston Writer’s Festival, Calgary’s WordFest Imaginarium, and Edmonton’s LitFest.
My talks are always accompanied by large, colourful visuals and personal stories. I enjoy interacting informally with audiences and hearing about their experiences too. Bring on your burning questions!
Photo: Chris Bentzen
Places I’ve Spoken
Guest Speaker & Visiting Author
Creative Mornings Vancouver / Edmonton LitFest / Wordfest Calgary Imaginarium / Kingston Writers’ Festival / Turn It Up and Disrupt 2019, UBC Arts and Culture District / International Women’s Day 2017 UBC Bookstore, Vancouver BC / School House Craft, Seattle WA / Interesting Vancouver 2010, Vancouver BC / Radical Reading Series, Canzine Vancouver BC / Hot Talks, Hot Art, Wet City, Vancouver BC / Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto ON / Brooklyn Craft Company, Brooklyn NY / Type Books, Toronto ON / Textile Arts, Brooklyn, NY / McNally Robinson, Winnipeg MA / In Other Words, Portland OR / Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops BC / Courtenay Public Library, Courtenay BC / Gibsons Public Library, Gibsons BC / Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver BC / Lulu Series: Art in the City, Richmond City Hall, Richmond BC / Vancouver City Hall, Vancouver BC / Joy Kogawa House, Vancouver BC / One of A Kind Show, Vancouver BC / Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver BC / Highlights, University College Design Association Design Conference, Victoria BC / Word On the Street, Vancouver BC / Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco CA / ArtSpeak, Vancouver BC / Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts AGM, Vancouver BC / Abbotsford Art Gallery, Abbotsford BC / Gabriola Isle of the Arts, Gabriola Island / Super Cool Tuesdays, Vancouver BC / CV WebPosse, Courtenay BC.
Classroom Lectures
La Salle College, Vancouver BC / Maple Ridge Senior Secondary School, Maple Ridge BC / Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver BC / SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, Vancouver BC / Publishing at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC /Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richmond, BC / Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art, teen book club, Vancouver BC
Participating Panelist
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Hosted by Renwick Gallery Curator Nora Atkinson, Washington DC /University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Hosted by Garth Johnson / The Surrey International Writers Conference, Surrey, BC / Institute of Contemporary Art, Art Lab, Boston MA. Hosted by Meighan O’Toole / Portland Design Week, Powell’s City of Books, Portland Oregon. Hosted by Kate Bingaman-Burt / Booksmith, San Francisco CA. Hosted by Rena Tom / Diesel Bookstore, Oakland. Hosted by Lisa Congdon / Creative Arts Centre, Seattle WA. Hosted by Marlo Miyashiro
Event Webcasts
Vancouver Public Library - Fibre Talks / FanFare Web Cast with FiberArts Magazine / State Library of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Workshops
Toronto International Festival of Authors / Kingston Writer’s Festival / Gabriola Isle of the Arts, Gabriola Island / Got Craft, Vancouver BC /School House Craft, Seattle WA /The Surrey International Writers Conference, Surrey BC / Makeshift Society, Brooklyn, NY / Makeshift Society, San Francisco CA / Makers Nation, Portland Design Week, Portland OR / Bird on A Wire, Vancouver BC / DIY or Die, Vancouver BC / MakerFaire Vancouver, Vancouver BC / West Vancouver Public Library, West Vancouver BC / The Gastown Pop Up Shop, Vancouver BC
Event Host
Making the Invisible Visible in Canadian Design, Vancouver Design Week 2018 / Regeneratus Artist Talk, The Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver BC / Fictionistas Author Tour, 2013 Vancouver BC / City Conversations, SFU Public Square Vancouver BC 2014
Reading Series
The Clarence Reads at Word Vancouver 2018 / Authors For Indies, Peoples Coop Books 2017 / W2 Real Vancouver Writers Series, Vancouver BC 2010 Olympics Edition (in The Burning Building)