Tzavta #20 Nate Blakeslee

NATE BLAKESLEE

Nate Blakeslee is a writer-at-large for Texas Monthly. His first book, Tulia, was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award and won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Texas Institute of Letters non-fiction prize, and was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2005. The Washington Post called it one of the most important books about wrongful convictions ever written. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family. 

SHELLEY YOUNGBLUT

Shelley Youngblut connects smart, funny people with life-changing ideas as the CEO & Creative Ringleader of Wordfest. In partnership with the Calgary Public Library, she is transforming Alberta’s oldest library into a vibrant arts and culture hub.

Shelley created her first magazine, VOX, while studying English at the University of Calgary, and her 20-year-career culminated in a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 from the Western Magazine Awards. She was the founding editor of the award-winning Swerve magazine and has created magazines for ESPN, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Nickelodeon and The Globe & Mail. She is also the author of three sports books, published by Hyperion in New York.

A former pop culture correspondent for ABC World News Now and Canada AM, she is unconventionally opinionated on CBC Calgary’s Eyeopener and also part of a weekly urban advice column. The mother of identical twins and a perfect dog, she wishes she could sing, win more at Texas Hold ’Em and bring Patti Smith to Calgary.

Collaboration with Wordfest