About the Event

Emma McKenna and Jaclyn Desforges are bringing the Weird Girls Book Tour to Little Wren Books in London, ON. Come celebrate the launch of Gold Star (Book*hug, 2026) by Emma McKenna and Weird Babies (The Porcupine's Quill, 2026) by Jaclyn Desforges. We'll be joined by special guest readers Pujita Verma and Modeline Nicholas Longjohn. Expect readings from all of us, a free mini-workshop, and time to hang out. This event is free and open to all.

When and Where

Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026

Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Venue: Little Wren Books Address: 502 Adelaide Street North, London, ON

About the Venue

Little Wren Books is a small bookshop in London, Ontario, owned and run by Jenny Berkel. They just celebrated their first-ever Little Lit Fest, a beautiful tiny literary festival that drew a wonderful crowd. Little Wren is committed to building literary community in London.

Accessibility

The building is not wheelchair or scooter accessible. There is a porch with multiple steps to get to the front door. An air purifier will be on site. Masking with high quality respirators is encouraged, and free masks will be available on site. If there's anything we can do to support your access, please let us know.

About the Guest Readers

Pujita Verma is a poet and illustrator. Her work has appeared across the TTC Network and on CBC's The National. She won awards from the League of Canadian Poets, the Toronto Arts & Letters Club Foundation, and the Eden Mills Writer's Festival, and was runner-up for the Janice Colbert Poetry Award. Her debut collection of poetry is Precedence (Brick Books, 2026).

Modeline Nicholas Longjohn has been writing since she was nine years old. Over the years, she has written over two score plays and movie scripts, some of which have been used as stage plays in different capacities. She has also written and published short stories, a novel, and several articles for magazines and editorials. She currently writes for the Muse, a student-run editorial at Memorial University, and is working on a second novel in her spare time. Modeline is currently a PhD candidate in the department of Biochemistry at Memorial University, researching immunology and cancer.

The Mini-Workshop

Writing Weird: Vulnerability as Superpower

This free workshop celebrates the weird, the personal, and the deeply specific as the most powerful tools in a writer's kit. You'll leave with a renewed commitment to your own weirdness and the beginning of a piece of writing that feels bracingly, unapologetically you.

The Books

Gold Star by Emma McKenna (Book*hug Press, 2026) — poetry collection.

Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges (The Porcupine's Quill, 2026) — short story collection.

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

More Tour Stops

This is one stop on the Weird Girls Book Tour, a Southwestern Ontario tour celebrating Gold Star and Weird Babies. Find the full tour schedule at jaclyn.ink/wgbt.