Feb 26, 2026 (Zoom): Celebrating Freedom to Read Week
Resist/Flourish: a Freedom to Read Week Panel of Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, Trans and Non-Binary Poets
Join the League for a timely Freedom to Read Week panel that centers joy, resistance, and the enduring importance of queer voices amidst an increasingly hostile cultural landscape. Moderated by Khashayar Mohammadi, our panelists will discuss the creative process, the realities of writing and publishing as Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, trans and non-binary poets, and what it means to write against censorship and towards a queerer future.
The League does not tolerate any form of hate speech or discrimination, and staff will be present to actively monitor the chat as well as readers' content. We encourage our members from equity-deserving groups to attend and participate, including Black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and LGBTQI2S+ poets.
Registration is required. The event will be recorded and available for viewing following the event.
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 8pm ET
5pm PT, 6pm MT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET, 9pm AT, 9:30pm Newfoundland
Panelists: Ambrose Albert, Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch, and jaye simpson.
Moderated by Khashayar "Kess" Mohammadi.
Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi
Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi (They/Them) is a queer, Iranian born, Toronto-based Poet, Writer and Translator. They are the winner of the 2021 Vallum Poetry Prize and the author of “Book of Interruptions” out with Wolsak and Wynn. Their next full length poetry manuscript is forthcoming with Ugly Duckling Presse.
Ambrose Albert
Ambrose Albert (he/him | il) is a trans masc poet living on the traditional unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Wolastoqiyik people. His debut collection of poetry Bec & Call (Nightwood Editions 2018) won the New Brunswick Book Awards’ Fiddlehead Poetry Prize. Ambrose served a two-year term as the City of Fredericton’s Poet Laureate from 2019-2021. His chapbook growing pains is forthcoming with Anstruther Press in Fall 2026 and he is currently working on a new collection of poetry as well as a novel about a trans man experiencing an immaculate pregnancy.
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch is a mixed-Arab writer, and translator, and co-publisher at Metonymy Press living in Tio’tia:ke. Their book, knot body, was published by Metatron Press in 2020. Their second book, The Good Arabs, published by Metonymy Press in 2022, was granted the honorary mention for poetry by the Arab American Book Awards, the Khayrallah Prize honorary mention, and won the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal.With co-editor Samia Marshy, they edited El Ghourabaa, an anthology of queer and trans writing by Arab and Arabophone writers, published by Metonymy Press in June 2024. You can find out more about them on their website, elitareqwrites.com or you can sign up for their newsletter, https://softsyrup.substack.com/.
jaye simpson
jaye simpson (she/they) is an Oji-Cree Saulteaux Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer from the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. simpson is a writer, advocate, and activist sharing their knowledge and lived experiences in hopes of creating utopia. Their first poetry collection, it was never going to be okay (Nightwood Editions, 2021) was shortlisted for the 2021 ReLit Award and the Writers' Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize and won the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in English.
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom. Freedom to Read Week provides an opportunity for Canadians to focus on issues of intellectual freedom as they affect your community, your province or territory, our country, and countries around the world.