Renowned Canadian playwright, activist, and theatre scholar, d’bi.young anitafrika, is celebrated for transformative theatre practices advocating social justice. A nonbinary African-Xaymacan-Tkarontonian womxn, their work, including the acclaimed Sankofa, Orisha, and Ibeyi Trilogies, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to Black queer feminist theatrical forms while rupturing colonial-systemic oppression. Accolades include three Dora Awards and numerous nominations, a KM Hunter Theatre Award, and a Global Leader in Theatre and Performance Award from Arts Council England.  Beyond writing, as Founding Artistic Director of Watah Theatre, d’bi.young has mentored hundreds of emerging playwright-performers into industry leaders. They conceived The Anitafrika Method, a decolonial performance praxis, nationally and globally applied in spaces like Soulpepper Theatre and the United Nations.  Presently a PhD candidate, d’bi.young is completing the first monograph on the transformative pedagogies of Black womxn theatre-makers in Canada. www.dbiyounganitafrika.com

“Each piece I write is an act of resistance, an act of love, a counter-narrative that aims to disrupt oppressive systems; carving out safe, healing spaces, while affirming our identities.” – d’bi.young anitafrika

Djennie Laguerre is an actress, writer, and storyteller. She is a graduate of the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in NYC and has a BA from the University of Ottawa. Her theatre credits as a performer include The Imaginary Invalid, Les Zinspirés I & III (Théâtre français de Toronto), Seventeen (Anonymous), and Women (Infintheatre). She is the writer, performer, and translator of Rendez-vous with home ⁄ Lakay and Manman la mer/Mother Sea. Manman la mer (Catapulte Theatre, Ottawa), which premiered in Ottawa before being presented at the MASA Festival in the Ivory Coast in March 2020, and toured New Brunswick, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Quebec City from 2022 to 2024. The show won the Prix Rideau Awards in 2020 for Production of the Year and Best Actress. The English version, Mother Sea, had its premiere this past February ’26’ at the Undercurrent Festival. Her latest TYA play, Taking Care of Maman, a Roseneath Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop production, has been translated by the author into French and Haitian Creole; Prendre soin de mom will be touring schools, in French and English, in the fall of 2026 and winter 2027, from Montreal and Toronto to Saskatoon. TCM has been touring a school near you since fall 2024 and has gotten the author nominated for Best New TYA Work 2042. For 20 years, Djennie has been a bilingual educational artist for the Ontario Arts Council, YPT, and Theatre Direct.

Born in Montreal to Haitian parents, Lorrie Jean-Louis holds a bachelor’s degree in History, Culture, and Society with a minor in Philosophy; she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in literature on “The Black Body and Intersubjectivity” and is completing her studies with a second master’s degree in library science.
She has a wide range of professional experience, all of which has focused on literature and the French language. She has won three awards for her first poetry collection, *La femme cent couleurs*, published by Mémoire d’encrier. Among these awards is the CALQ Emerging Artist Award.  Recently, she has been working with MAYDAY on the adaptation of bell hooks’ text “All About Love” towards “L’amour ou rien”, which will be performed at ESPACE GO and the Grand Théâtre de Québec.  She writes.