A. Jamali Rad is a text-forward artist born in Iran and currently based in Windsor, ON, on the traditional territory of the Anishnaabeg people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa). They have published three full-length books of poetry through Talonbooks: for love and autonomy (2016), still (2021), and No Signal No Noise (2024). A Jamali Rad’s No Signal No Noise is a poetic hybrid, part philosophical treatise, epic poem, and experimental novel, beginning as the narrator finds a mysterious manuscript. Journeying through centuries and across continents, they’re guided by the cryptic mirror the manuscript provides as it traces a history of the number zero. It is the first installment in The Self-Inscribing Machine series, a speculative history of the binary. Shauntelle Dick-Charleson is the 2025-2026 Youth Poet Laureate of Victoria. A rising star in the spoken word community, Shauntelle is a poet from the Hesquiaht and Songhees First Nations whose work shines a light on Indigenous resilience, intergenerational trauma, and the experiences of Indigenous women. She began writing in Grade 10 and quickly found her voice on the stage. In 2019, she competed with the Vic Slam Team at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, where they placed 8th at nationals. Her poetry has been featured in Aboriginal Voices 2, and she dreams of publishing her own book one day.