Mary Pinkoski, 5th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton (2013-2015), is an internationally recognized poet, arts and museum educator, and doctoral student at the University of Alberta. In 2019, she was Edmonton Public Library Regional Writer in Residence. Mary has performed on stages across North American and at the 2015 Winter Lights Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2019, she collaborated with artist Alyson Davies on the Land in the Veins exhibition at SNAP Gallery. Mary's poetry has appeared in multiple anthologies. She was the 2011 Canadian National Spoken Word Champion and the national winner of the 2008 CBC National Poetry Face-off. In 2015, Mary was recognized as an Edmonton Top 40 Under 40 and was awarded a University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award for her poetry work in the Edmonton community, in particular for facilitating poetry workshops and her creation of the City of Edmonton’s Youth Poet Laureate role. Mary continues to perform across the country and to provide dynamic and engaging workshops for writers of all ages and experiences.