Leigh Matthews (L) is a queer, British-born writer now living in Vancouver, BC, with a sharp-eyed border collie who is both her biggest fan and harshest critic. She has previously published poetry and short prose in Aesthetica, Point Shirley, New Work from the Writing Squad, and eSheaf and she supports her tea-drinking habit as a freelance medical copywriter. L attends queer literary events in the city whenever she can and greatly admires those in possession of the courage to shout out their poetry to the world. Her first novel, The Old Arbutus Tree, was published in July 2013, and she is working on editing her second novel whilst gearing up for the 3-day novel challenge this year!