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.

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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 (family names: Cardinal, Laframboise, Lafontaine, Moreau, Pelletier, Smith); 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.

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Some recent highlights: Since May 2, 2024, Elena has been the Editor for Grain magazine. Elena made the longlist for the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize--read her profile here. Elena is a Juror for the 2026 Prairie Grindstone Prize.

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Elena has served as a Peer Reviewer, 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 Indigenous Children's Book Writing Circle. She currently serves as a board member for SAWCI. 

 

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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