Print & Publishing Festival

2023 Schedule:

Thurs, Aug 17
1:30, beginning at Jack London Museum (8th Ave & Firth St.):
KVA’s Authors on Eighth Literary Walking Tour
Immerse yourself in the history and colourful ties of the famous authors who drew inspiration from their experiences in the heart of the Klondike.

8:00 at the Westminster Hotel Lounge: Spoken Word Open Mic
Share your stories, poetry, short stories, or any other writing

Fri, Aug 18
5:30 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom: Free Tax Help for Small Businesses & Artists with CRA Liaison Officer Jack Lilly
The CRA Liaison Officers Service provides free presentations and one-on-one meetings to self employed individuals, small corporations, and groups of small business owners to answer their income tax related questions. The purpose of the presentation is help them understand your income tax responsibilities. We will cover topics including: Understanding income, deductible expenses, GST/HST, and payroll taxes; Online services and tools that are available to assist in business endeavours; Common tax errors to avoid, And recommendations for bookkeeping practices. This session is specifically focused on independent artists, and Jack will bring specific resources.

8:00 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom: Yukon Words’ Words Out Loud & Borealis Prize Presentation
Storytelling and readings by Darcy Tara McDiarmid, Helen Winton, Tara Borin, and a performance by Berton House Writer-in-residence Charlie Petch

Sat, Aug 19
11:00 at the Front St. fire pit (Front St & Princess St): Haiku readings with kj munro
Join poet kj munro for a casual haiku reading at the Front St. fire pit (Front & Princess St. beside the artist market). Feel free to bring your own haiku to share.

noon – 3:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Dawson City Community Library BIG BOOK SALE: The Dawson City Community library are selling off overstock books! Cheap books!

noon – 5:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Sylvan Hamburger: Interactive mono-print project
Over the course of the festival, artist Sylvan Hamburger will publicly mono-print the worn surfaces of old boardwalks and boomtown facades throughout Dawson City and the surrounding area. The resulting prints will hang outdoors as life-sized impressions of the fragmented architecture. Throughout the work’s creation and installation, Sylvan will push the limits of printmaking to reconsider notions of memory, artifice and belonging amidst the former gold rush town. The public is encouraged to join Sylvan in the inking, pressing and printing of these historic surfaces.

Hands-on printmaking demonstrations with Peter Braune & Ken Anderson
Join master printer Peter Braune (New Leaf Editions) and carver, artist, printmaker Ken Anderson to explore printmaking techniques and equipment, including a restored 1800s Chandler & Price Letterpress.

1:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Saltwater Hank Songwriting Workshop: A casual exploration of songwriting with Saltwater Hank. Bring an instrument, or not, and dig into the songwriting process and Saltwater Hank’s practice. Admission by donation

3:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Charlie Petch Writing Workshop: Love Your Embarrassment: In this writing workshop, spoken word/slam poet Charlie Petch asks to hear your stories. Those ones that maybe had you feeling powerless, and turn them into poetry. Bring your notebooks or writing devices, your messy, honest self and be ready to shed the shame and turn it into poetry gold. Admission by donation

8:00 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom:
Saltwater Hank with Ellorie McKnight
Tickets available at KIAC.eventbrite.ca

Releasing on July 1, 2023, for Canada Day, G̱al’üünx wil lu Holtga Liimi, from Ts’msyen artist Saltwater Hank is a statement of resistance and resilience built on a bedrock of roots and country music. Based out of Kxeen (Prince Rupert, British Columbia) and writing original songs in Sm’algyax, the Ts’msyen language, Hank is pushing back against two centuries of cultural eradication by the Canadian government aimed at “killing the Indian in the child,” as Canada’s first prime minister John A. Macdonald once said. To fight this historic and continuing erasure, he’s using a language that dates back literal millennia, thousands of years before Ancient Greece. Living and working on land that’s been occupied by the Ts’msyen since time immemorial, he’s able to draw from ancestral knowledge and science, plus a deep understanding of the structure and spirit of Ts’msyen song. The goal with the album is first of all to connect with other Ts’msyen looking to understand their own language, as there are sadly no first generation speakers left under the age of 60. After that, Hank made this album to show the power of creating in Indigenous languages. “The fact that I’m singing in my language is an act of resistance,” he says. “Over 150 years after Macdonald and being able to still speak and sing in our language…This really goes to show that he failed. We succeeded in keeping our language and our musical traditions alive.”


Sun, Aug 20
11:00 at the Front St. fire pit (Front St & Princess St): Haiku readings with kj munro
Join poet kj munro for a casual haiku reading at the Front St. fire pit (Front & Princess St. beside the artist market). Feel free to bring your own haiku to share.

noon – 3:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Dawson City Community Library BIG BOOK SALE Pt. 2!

noon – 5:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Sylvan Hamburger: Interactive mono-print project continues…

More hands-on printmaking demonstrations with Peter Braune & Ken Anderson

3:00 at the Dawson Daily News:
Charlie Petch Microphone & Performance Workshop: Does adjusting the mic, or even using it intimidate you? Do you freeze at the thought of having to do public speaking? Charlie Petch gives you the tools you need to not only use a mic like a pro, but also how to hold an audience, whether you are reading, reciting, or even just observing, you’ll receive great tips to boost your confidence and performance. Admission by donation.

Wed, Aug 23
5:30 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC: Screen-printing 101 Workshop
Want to try your hand at screen-printing but don’t know where to start? Well now you can come to this beginners workshop! Learn how to make a clear design, burn a screen and start printing. From A-Z you’ll learn the steps to becoming skilled in screen printing.

Thurs, Aug 24
7:00 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom:
KIAC Artist-in-Residence Artist Talk

Rachel Gray is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist and creative leader based in Algonquin Territory / Ottawa. Navigating the world with Dyslexia has led her to explore art as a way to create customized language. Her work spans multiple media and tries to speak into the places language leaves blank. Her projects are connected by an interest in expressive mark-making, performance, immersive installation, and storytelling.

Snacks provided. Cash bar.

Fri, Aug 25
5:30 at the Dawson Daily News:
Sylvan Hamburger Pop-up exhibition at the Dawson Daily News
Come see the life-sized mono-prints of Dawson City structures that artist Sylvan Hamburger has been creating all week. The artist will be present to discuss the work.

7:00 at Dënäkär Zho / ODD Gallery / KIAC Ballroom
Blake Nelson Shaa’koon Lepine | Obsession, Depression and Hope
Exhibition opening and artist talk

“I remember when I wasn’t depressed, when the world seemed to glow, the leaves on the poplar trees seemed greener and fluttered with such rhythm, just like perfectly timed music. Something happened to my brain around the age of 17, I became withdrawn and began to obsess over anything that seemed to alleviate the weight I felt. It felt in those moments the dark clouds were hanging only over my head, and I remember feeling angry at the world. I remember the glimmer of the world seemed to dampen and I became very sad, and I isolated myself. I quickly learned however in my isolation that as long as I directed my obsessions into things that would help serve me, I could find comfort and relief of that heaviness. My obsessions quickly became my passions which helps keep the depression in flux with hope.”

Sat, Aug 26
noon – 3:00 at the Dawson Daily News
Print & publication artist market

noon – 5:00 at the Dawson Daily News
Modular Collography – Drop-in open studio with Val Loewen
Come and explore collography in a guided open studio setting! Collography is a unique way of exploring textural images made of found objects. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own images by recombining textured plates, or by creating their own textured plates from scratch. No prior printmaking experience is necessary and all materials are provided. Instruction and guidance is available as needed. Just don’t wear your favourite clothes! Or bring an apron 😉

Blake Nelson Shaa’koon Lepine Artist Demonstration

4:00 – 8:00 at Dënäkär Zho / KIAC Ballroom
Queer Yukon FREE dinner: Takeout available. Free comfort food, fun and community space for the whole family in a 2SLGBTQIAP+ centered environment.

Sun, Aug 27
noon – 3:00 at the Dawson Daily News
Print & publication artist market

noon – 5:00 at the Dawson Daily News
Modular Collography – Drop-in open studio with Val Loewen

Hands-on Eco-printing demonstrations with Perry & Marie: With the use of local plants, found rusted objects, thrifted fabric and the dirty pot method; come experience Marie and Arcane’s eco-printing demo. We’ll show you the behind the scenes on how we are able to achieve negative and positive prints from a variety of local plants; including fireweed, willow, strawberry runners, and rose leafs to name a few. We’ll show several mordanting techniques and how we hammer, wrap and boil our pieces to succeed in clear and abstract plant prints!

The Print & Publishing Festival presents an inclusive and innovative multi-day celebration of visual printmaking, literature, publishing, and heritage. Featured guests range from emerging to established printmakers, publishers and writers, all embracing a spirit of independent creativity while remaining open to collaborative processes.

Workshops and daytime Festival events take place in the rarely-accessed home of the Dawson Daily News, one of Dawson City’s early newspapers (printed from 1899 to 1954). Since the first year of this project, an 1890s Chandler & Price letterpress, formerly used at the Whitehorse Star, has been completely restored for use. Other original artifacts are on display thanks to Parks Canada.

Past projects and events have included exhibitions, readings, printmaking and creative writing workshops, seminars and discussions on writing and publishing, ongoing artist projects, a collaborative publication production with writers and printmakers, hands-on artist demonstrations, performances, live radio broadcasts, writing competitions, collaborative comic-making, artist talks, lectures, and more.



Photos by Devon Berquist, Michael MacLean, and Chris Healey