| Executive Director | Giorgia Severini |
| Giorgia has been with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta since 2008 and has spent the time gathering information and developing resources to best serve Alberta writers. She has a BA Honours in English from the University of Manitoba and an MA in Drama from the University of Alberta. Outside of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, she is a theatre director, playwright, manuscript reader, and Online Features Editor for Canadian Theatre Review. Her most recent original play, Border Breakdown, was produced at the 2019 Edmonton Fringe and read at the 2020 SkirtsAFire Festival Peep Show. | |
| Program and Operations Coordinator | Ashley Mann (She/Her) |
| Ashley was born in Grande Prairie but moved to Edmonton as a child. She worked as a veterinary assistant in her early twenties before returning to school to study literature. Ashley went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree (English) from MacEwan University in 2017, where she also contributed two short fiction pieces to MacEwan’s anthology series, The Bolo Tie Collective (Volumes I and II). Ashley continues to read and be inspired by all types of literature, but is especially fond of speculative fiction. She writes poetry and fiction in her spare time. | |
| Program and Events Coordinator | Jason Lee Norman |
| Jason was born and raised on the shores of the mighty North Saskatchewan. He received a Bachelor of Arts (English) degree from the University of Alberta and a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester. Since returning home from studying in the UK Jason has worked tirelessly to create new opportunities and projects that showcase local writers. He was the publisher behind the 40 Below winter anthologies, currently publishes Monto Books and edits the new Edmonton literary journal Funicular Magazine. He mainly writes short fiction and hilarious tweets these days. | |
| Program and Fund Development Coordinator (Southern Alberta Office, Calgary) | Ashley Frerichs (She/Her) |
| Ashley Frerichs (aka Ashley J.J. White) was born and raised in Calgary where she worked in radio until 2012 when she made a swift escape to the west coast. In Vancouver, she was the Program & Promotions Coordinator at the Rickshaw Theatre and co-founder of The Revival Festival. She moved to London in early 2017 where she spent three years attending as many writing workshops and music festivals as possible while working as a freelance copywriter and occasional bartender. She is now (finally) working toward a BA in English from Athabasca University. In addition to her studies, she is a writer of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction; she’s had a few short stories and poems published in various literary magazines. | |
| Communications Coordinator | Nisha Patel નિશા પટેલ (She/Her) |
Nisha Patel is the Poet Laureate Emeritus of the City of Edmonton. An award-winning disabled and queer artist, she is a Canadian Poetry Slam champion and culture worker. Nisha holds a master of arts in cultural studies from Queen’s University and a master of fine arts from the University of British Columbia. Her poetry collections Coconut and A Fate Worse Than Death are out now. Her third collection is forthcoming in the fall of 2026 with Arsenal Pulp Press. Nisha has performed and taught workshops across Canada, with over three hundred and fifty performances, keynotes, and public performances to date. She lives and writes from her home in Edmonton, Alberta, with her partner, fellow author and intellectual ally Matthew James Weigel. Her website is nishapatel.ca. | |
| Member Services Coordinator | Mike Maguire (They/Them) |
| Mike Maguire started as an intern at the WGA while working on their Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Studies at MacEwan University, going on to become a member of the regular staff after completing their degree. When not working, Mike spends some of their spare time down in the game room playing a variety of board games and card games, getting together every couple weeks with a few friends for an online roleplaying game night, or reading. Mike reads a wide range of books, with a particular interest in the horror genre – both fictional horror stories and reading non-fiction works discussing the genre itself. | |
| Summer Program and Digital Media Assistant | Kim Gomez (she/her) |
| Kim Gomez is a student at the University of Alberta studying Art and Design, graduating in 2026. She loves to write short stories and poetry and hopes to publish a novel one day. Besides spending time with her cat, Echo, Kim can be seen roaming around bookstores and different coffee shops, reading, writing, drinking more coffee, and creating visual art. She’s been published three times in the U of A YouAlberta blog, and her art has been featured in the display cabinets of the Fine Arts building at the U of A. Her favourite genre of books ranges from horror to coming-of-age to the occasional romance. Kim was born in Manila, Philippines, and moved to Montreal, Quebec (don’t ask her to speak French, though). She finally settled with her family in Edmonton at the age of 7. | |
