The Guelph Lecture—On Being 2023

The 2023 Guelph Lecture—On Being marked our 20th edition, and to celebrate we brought together three presenters who address the urgencies of our time in three engaging ways.

Literary Guest: Liz Howard

Our literary guest for the evening was Ontario poet Liz Howard, who was recently the Eastern Comma artist-in-residence at the rare Charitable Research Reserve. Her latest collection of poetry, Letters in a Bruised Cosmos, was published by McClelland & Stewart in June 2021.

Musical Guest: Sarah Harmer

Fresh off a tour of Eastern Canada, beloved Canadian musician and activist Sarah Harmer presented songs from her latest album Are You Gone and her extensive discography of treasured music.

Keynote: Dr. Will Valley

Unsettling Approaches to Food Security

2023’s keynote featured Dr. Will Valley, who explored the tensions and contradictions inherent to approaches that seek to increase food security. These approaches are characterized by a reluctance to accept the power, presence, and perpetuation of white supremacy in mainstream Canadian culture, and a failure to recognize the fundamental limits to creating a food secure future without first acknowledging and working toward dismantling settler-colonial legacies. The full lecture is presented below:

This event featured ASL interpretation and live transcription. The River Run Centre is a physically accessible venue. More accessibility information can be found on our General Accessibility Statement.