Étienne d'Anjou joined the Régiment de la Chaudière in 2007 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. After returning, he continued to serve until 2020. At the same time, he studied at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec, where he graduated in 2017. As an actor, he has appeared in several productions, earning a nomination for the Nikki Roy Award in 2020. Since then, he has also portrayed a reservist in Projet Monarques, a performance focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder among military personnel.

Benjamin Hertwig’s debut poetry collection, Slow War, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award and received the poetry prize at the Alberta Book Awards. His writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, and The Walrus, among others. He is a recipient of a National Magazine Award in Personal Journalism, and his debut novel, Juiceboxers, was released last fall. He has taught writing workshops for veterans, inmates, and students across Canada.

Jessica Lynn Wiebe draws from her lived military experience to create interdisciplinary work that centres on militarism, military life, and commemoration. This work is often gritty, in concept, materials, and approach. Wiebe’s work reveals the messiness and chaos that is war in hopes of encouraging dialogue on war and conflict. By listening to others’ lived experiences, we begin to know ourselves more deeply. Jessica was born and raised in Brandon, Manitoba on Treaty 2 Territory and currently practices in K’jipuktuk/Halifax.

Joel Watson, HBA, LLB, MA, former officer in both the Regular and Reserve Forces, former Director of Legal Services for the Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Vice-Chair of the Veterans Transition Advisory Council.

Dr. Sarah Hogenbirk is an independent researcher who specializes in the fields of Canadian history, gender history, and war and society. A settler scholar, she obtained her PhD in History from Carleton University in 2017. Her work has been published in international and Canadian collections on women and war. Since graduating, she has conducted research for museums and the federal government.

Eric Brunt is a documentary filmmaker based in Montreal. Since 2018, he has interviewed over 500 of Canada’s last living Second World War veterans. His cross-country efforts led to the Eric Brunt Collection at the Canadian War Museum, a curated body of interviews that preserves their stories for future generations. Now directing his first feature-length film, Eric’s work explores memory, masculinity, and intergenerational silence through the lens of veterans’ lived experiences.