Clockwise from top left: EC Dorgan; Paola Ferrante (Rob Skuja); Daysha Loppie; Karianne Trudeau Beaunoyer (LeQuartanier, JustineLatour); Aubrianna Snow.

Five writers who are in the early stages of their careers have been selected for the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s annual Rising Stars program. Five established Canadian writers each chose an emerging writer to mentor. The participants will receive $5,000, a flexible mentorship, and a two-week, self-directed residency at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts on the Toronto Islands.

The 2024 Rising Stars are:

EC Dorgan (mentored by Hiromi Goto)

EC Dorgan, a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, writes dark fiction and monster stories on Treaty 6 Territory in the Edmonton area. Her work has been has published in literary journals, including Augur Magazine, and she has stories forthcoming in Prairie Fire and Northern Nights, an anthology of Canadian speculative fiction. Dorgan is also working on her first novel.

Paola Ferrante (mentored by Richard Van Camp)

Paola Ferrante’s debut short fiction collection, Her Body Among Animals, was a finalist for the 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award as well as the 2023 Foreword INDIES. What to Wear When Surviving A Lion Attack, her poetry collection, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Toronto-based Ferrante is currently working on a science fiction–inspired novel that satirically explores the concept of living your best life.

Daysha Loppie (mentored by John Lorinc)

Daysha Loppie, a journalist based in Toronto, was the recipient of the Len Coates Memorial Award recognizing academic achievement for two consecutive years at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism and a minor in Black Studies. Her work has appeared in Toronto Star, The Local, and ByBlack. Loppie is currently working on a long form investigative feature on the fight to find lost Black burial grounds in Western Ontario.

Aubrianna Snow (mentored by Monique Gray Smith)

Aubrianna Snow is a feminist writer and educator of mixed Mi’kmaw and settler descent living as a guest in Treaty 6 Territory (Edmonton). Her journalism background informs her work, which focuses on issues related to gender-based violence and explores healing from interpersonal and systemic violence. Her writing has appeared in Chatelaine and Muskrat Magazine. Snow is currently working on a work of literary fiction titled Waterborn and a collection of poetry.

Karianne Trudeau Beaunoyer (mentored by Élise Turcotte)

Karianne Trudeau Beaunoyer ’s debut poetry collection, Je suis l’ennemie, received the Émile-Nelligan prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Alain-Grandbois prize in 2021. She has served on the editorial board of Mœbius magazine and was literary director of a poetry collection from Triptyque Editions. Montreal-based Trudeau Beaunoyer is currently working on a novel about restoration, an essay combining urban legends and personal narrative, and a poetry collection.

Nominations for the 2025 Rising Stars program will be accepted Writers’ Trust until August 26.