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Elena Bentley (she/her) is disabled, bi, and a proud Métis Aunty. She is a poet, multi-genre writer, and editor who currently resides in Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation. In 2018, she completed an MA in English from the University of Toronto (SSHRC funded); in 2016, she completed a BA (Hons) in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from the University of Regina.
A registered Citizen of Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, Elena's Métis ancestry flows primarily through the Duck Lake/St. Laurent de Grandin area back to the Red River Settlement in Manitoba; her European/settler roots connect her to Germany and to Shropshire, England. Elena was born with clubfoot in both feet, and underwent corrective surgery at age three. She was also born with a progressive, degenerative muscle disease known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and she experiences severe anxiety, depression, and OCD.
Elena is so proud to say, as of May 2, 2024, she is the Editor for Grain magazine! She was the Managing/Poetry Editor for untethered magazine; the Associate Prose Editor for Windscript Magazine volume 37; the Managing/Poetry Editor for Windscript Magazine volume 38; and the Managing/Poetry Editor for spring Magazine volume 14. Her children's picture book, The Pickle in Grandma's Fridge, was published by YNWP in May 2022. Her debut poetry chapbook, taliped, was published by 845 Press in October 2023. Elena made the longlist for the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize--read her profile here.
Elena has served as a Juror for the R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature for the 2023 Alberta Literary Awards, a First Reader for ARC Poetry Magazine (2022 to 2024), and as a board member for the Saskatchewan Book Awards (2020 to 2022) and for JackPine Press (2022 to 2023).
She is a member of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild (SWG), the Saskatchewan Ânskohk Writers' Circle Inc (SAWCI), and the Indigenous Editors' Association (IEA).
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