Wild Threads Presenters 2022

We are so thrilled to have such a wonderful roster of presenters this year! For tickets, please visit “Festival Events”

Peter Mansbridge is one of Canada’s most respected journalists. He is the former chief correspondent for CBC News; anchor of The National, CBC’s flagship nightly newscast where he worked for thirty years reporting on national and international news stories; and host of Mansbridge One on One. He has received over a dozen national awards for broadcast excellence, including a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. He is a distinguished fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto and the former two-term Chancellor of Mount Allison University. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada—the country’s highest civilian honour—and in 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He is the author of the instant #1 national bestsellers Off the Record and Extraordinary Canadians, and also the national bestseller Peter Mansbridge One on One: Favourite Conversations and the Stories Behind Them. He lives in Stratford, Ontario. Follow him on Twitter @PeterMansbridge, visit him at ThePeterMansbridge.com, or listen to his daily podcast, The Bridge, with Sirius XM Canada.
Peter Mansbridge is one of Canada’s most respected journalists. He is the former chief correspondent for CBC News; anchor of The National, CBC’s flagship nightly newscast where he worked for thirty years reporting on national and international news stories; and host of Mansbridge One on One. He has received over a dozen national awards for broadcast excellence, including a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. He is a distinguished fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto and the former two-term Chancellor of Mount Allison University. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada—the country’s highest civilian honour—and in 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He is the author of the instant #1 national bestsellers Off the Record and Extraordinary Canadians, and also the national bestseller Peter Mansbridge One on One: Favourite Conversations and the Stories Behind Them. He lives in Stratford, Ontario. Follow him on Twitter @PeterMansbridge, visit him at ThePeterMansbridge.com, or listen to his daily podcast, The Bridge, with Sirius XM Canada.
Louise Martin is host of CBC News: Compass – the number one evening news program on Prince Edward Island.
 
In August 2017, Louise brought her journalistic skills to PEI, where she is closer to family in the Maritimes with her brother and his family living in Nova Scotia and extended family on PEI.
 
Louise comes to PEI with vast experience in broadcast journalism –  having hosted and produced hourly and breaking news updates on the CBC News Network.  Before that, she was host and producer covering business and economic news for CBC News Network.
 
Her personable interviewing style could also be heard from time to time on The World This Weekend on CBC Radio One.
 
Born in Scotland, Louise has anchored news shows across the country, including CKLQ Radio, then CKX TV, in Brandon Manitoba, RDTV in Red Deer, Alberta,  CBC New World business,  and CBC Breaking news.
 
Louise lives in PEI with her husband Ken and their children, Sophie and Hallie.
As host of CBC Radio One’s wildly successful “The Debaters” since 2007 Patterson has become a household name, with more than half a million weekly listeners. In 2010, steady accolades for his work on that show earned him a third invitation to perform on one of Just For Laughs’ prestigious televised galas, hosted by Steve Martin. Considered to be the highlight of the show by the audience and critics alike, Patterson’s performance prompted the legendary Martin himself to quip, “If I’d known he was going to be THAT good, I would have cancelled him.”
Patrick Ledwell

Patrick’s quick-witted comedy has brought him national recognition with many appearances on CBC Radio’s “The Debaters.”
He’s a popular host at events across Canada, from the East Coast Music Awards to a performance in Inuvik, above the Arctic Circle.
During the summer season, he performs with musician Mark Haines in the hit show “The Island Summer Review.” His books, I Am an Islander and An Islander Strikes Back, are national bestsellers.
Catch up with Patrick at www.patrickledwell.net, and on social media.
Patrick lives on a hobby farm just outside Charlottetown PEI, with his wife Tara and his 10-year-old son Nate.
Meg MacKay is a comedian and comedy writer originally from Cornwall, PEI. As a TV writer Meg has written for Tallboyz, The Baroness von Sketch Show, and  has been a staff writer This Hour has 22 Minutes for three seasons. Meg has performed on the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and was one of the 2021 New Faces of Comedy at the Just for Laughs Festival. Meg’s stand up album Probably a Witch is available on Howl and Roar Records.
Genevieve Loughlin is the Founder and Publishing Director of Pownal Street Press. With a Masters Degree in Publishing from Simon Fraser University, Genevieve has worked in all parts of the publishing industry, acquisitions, book development, book production, marketing, sales and distribution. She started her career working in marketing for Raincoast Books and then as a co-owner of a publisher’s sales agency. In this role, she sold books published by Canadian and international publishing firms to Canadian bookstores. Chosen by Quill and Quire as “One to Watch in the Canadian Publishing Industry,” she was also a winner of the Canadian Bookseller’s Libris Award for Sales Representative of the Year. She also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie University, and most recently managed Acorn Press.
Rebecca Thomas is a Mi’kmaw poet and activist who writes kids books about growing up the child of a residential school survivor. Her first book I’m Finding My Talk was shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her children’s book Swift Fox All Along was a finalist for a Governor General literary award, and Marilyn Bailie Picture Book Award and was also shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her collection of poetry called I Place You Into the Fire was a CBC’s Top 20 book of 2020.
Fareh Malik is a BIPOC man from Hamilton, Ontario, as well as a seasoned spoken word artist and emerging written poet. Fareh was named the 2022 RBC PEN Canada New Voices Award winner. He was also the winner of Hamilton Art’s Shirley Elford Prize, The 2022 October Project Poetry Award, and MH Canada’s 2020 Poetry Contest. Fareh’s debut book Streams That Lead Somewhere is forthcoming in 2022 with Mawenzi House. Fareh was named a finalist for the 2021 Best of the Net anthology, and was honoured with the 2021 Garden Project grant to explore interdisciplinary work. His individual works have been published by literary presses all around the world; his poetry has even been on exhibit in San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum. Fareh’s work has been described as critical, yet sanguine; poetry that often explores the intersection of racialization and mental illness, while maintaining a silver lining on its horizon. He loves to tell the story of his struggle, and of his community around him, in the hope that others can find inspiration and companionship in it. Fareh is currently a poet and author, working on his second collection.
Chris Bailey is a fisherman and graphic designer from Prince Edward Island. A past recipient of the Milton Acorn Poetry Award, he holds an MFA Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. His writing has appeared in Brick, The Antigonish Review, Grain, The Fiddlehead, Best Canadian Stories 2021, and elsewhere. Chris’ first poetry collection, What Your Hands Have Done, was short-listed for the Re-Lit Award and the PEI Book Award for Poetry, and is available from Nightwood Editions.
Lesley Choyce is the author of more than 100 books of literary fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and young adult novels. He runs Pottersfield Press and has worked as editor with a wide range of Canadian authors.  Choyce has been teaching English and Creative Writing at Dalhousie and other universities for over thirty years. He has won The Dartmouth Book Award, The Atlantic Poetry Prize and The Ann Connor Brimer Award and has been short-listed for the Governor-General’s Award. In 2022 he was awarded the Atlantic Legacy Award for his “lasting contribution to the development of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada.” He surfs year round in the North Atlantic.
Home: Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia