Victoria Festival of Authors has expanded from a two-person operation with a four-member board to a small but mighty team in 2024!
VFA’s Team
- Laura Trunkey – Festival Producer
- Katrina Philpotts & Nadya Comeau – Indigenous Curators
- Sandra Forsyth – Webmaster
- Erika Lapenat, Murray Leslie & Sarah Roberts – Social Media
Board
- Yvonne Blomer– President
- Yvonne Blomer (she/her) lives in Victoria, BC on Lək̓ʷəŋən territory. The Last Show on Earth, her fifth book of poetry was published with Caitlin Press in 2022. She was Victoria’s fourth poet laureate.
- Isabel Jones – Vice President
- Isabel Jones is a retired teacher-librarian who has lived and worked in Manitoba and BC, as well as in Australia, Singapore, and Germany. She is delighted to be discovering local writers and to contribute to the mission of the VFA as a volunteer author interviewer and now as a board member. Long ago, she was on the board of Prairie Fire Magazine. She feels privileged to be living in the traditional territory of the Lekwungan People on the beautiful west coast.
- Brianna Bock – Secretary
- Brianna Bock is an emerging author/playwright and journalist/theatre critic who has written for Edible Vancouver Island and The Martlet. Their work has been published in The Martlet, This Side of West and they have written/acted in Theatre SKAM’sPop-Up Theatre.
- Richard Ketchen – Treasurer
- A retired accountant, business executive and financial communication consultant, Richard Ketchen brings a broad range of skills and interests to the board. He previously served as a director and officer of the Peninsula Streams Society, West Vancouver Streamkeepers Society and the BC chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.
- Kegan McFadden – Past President
- With a background in literary and visual arts, Kegan McFadden is an artist, curator, publisher, and writer. For the past two decades, his projects have been presented by artist-run, university, and public galleries across Canada. Kegan’s writing has appeared in Border Crossings, C-Magazine, Canadian Art, fuse, Geist, Plenitude, and Poetry is Dead, among numerous gallery publications. Kegan is the Executive Director of Victoria Arts Council and has been President of the VFA since 2019.
- Barbara Pelman – Director-at-large
- Barbara Pelman is a retired high school English teacher, and author of three books of poetry, with a fourth to be published by Caitlin Press in Fall 2023. Many of her poems have been published in literary journals and won contests. She assists Planet Earth Poetry Reading Venues, organizing workshops and retreats.
- Cynthia Woodman Kerkham – Director-at-large
- An award-winning and widely published poet, Cynthia Woodman Kerkham is the author of Good Holding Ground and the chapbook with feathers. She’s also co-editor of the anthology Poems from Planet Earth and a great believer in the inspirational value of festivals. She gratefully teaches, edits, writes and hikes on this beautiful land.
Marketing Committee
Yvonne Blomer, Jann Everard, Isabel Jones, Cynthia Woodman Kerkham, Julia Turner Lansall, Erika Lapenat, Murray Leslie, Barbara Pelman
Author Interview Volunteers
Brianna Bock, Yvonne Blomer, Rebeca Dunn-Krahn, Jann Everard, Meharoona Ghani, Ash Hampson, Eileen Henry, Nikki Hillman, Nancy Issenman, Isabel Jones, Cathalynn Labonte-Smith, Erika Lapenat, Heika Lettrari, L’Amour Lisik, Angus McLean, Mike McLean, Nancy Pearson, Barbara Pelman, Amy Reiswig, Sarah Roberts, Shawn Syms, Alli Vail, Peter Worden, Ben Ziegler