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Arts Roundup
June 25, 2026

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Sterlings love the thrust-and-parry of Cyrano

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Citadel Theatre productions earned 45 nominations across 26 categories at the Sterling Awards, Edmonton's annual celebration of excellence on the stage. The list includes 11 nominations for Cyrano de Bergerac, with nods for best new play, Amanda Goldberg's direction, Scott Shpeley's leading performance, and outstanding production. Three other nominations for outstanding production of a play are also for the Citadel — Casey and Diana, Death of a Salesman, and Life of Pi. Fringe Theatre's Countries Shaped Like Stars rounds out that category, and also earned nominations for Murray Utas's direction and the ensemble's performance.

Fringe's Tough Guy, a new play by Hayley Moorhouse, earned seven nominations — for best new play, director Brett Dahl's choreography, Autumn Strom's leading performance, lighting design, multimedia design, and the ensemble cast's performance. The Sterlings also recognize shows from the annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. The nominees for outstanding Fringe production are Assassins from Uniform Theatre, The Last Perfect Game from High Fives at Zero Theatre, The Queen's Last Night / La Dernière Nuit de la Reine from Gilbert Drapeau, Rat Academy 2: Gnaw and Order from Batrabbit Collective, and "SPEED" A 1940's Radio Drama from Cousins-In-Law Productions. The Fringe's executive director, Megan Dart, will receive the Margaret Mooney Award for Outstanding Achievement in Administration.

Among the nominations for outstanding production of a musical are Cry-Baby from Uniform Theatre and Edmonton Opera's Die Walküre. The Citadel's Legally Blonde, Vinyl Cafe: The Musical, and The Wizard of Oz round out that category. See Liz Nicholls's post for even more about the nominees. Tickets are on sale now for the Sterling Awards ceremony at the Westbury Theatre on July 20.

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Books and publishing

  • Organizers of grassroots resistance to book bans are keen to get people together to talk about restricted books. "I'm really hoping to build community around this, because I think that stories, especially stories that challenge us and make us maybe a little uncomfortable, they have the power to build empathy and open minds, and the best way to do that is to put it into practice in community," said Robyn Wilson of Lit Resistance, a subscription service that sends out commonly banned books. Meanwhile, Brandon Schatz of Variant Edition said he's seen a lot of interest in his Objectionable Publications Book Club as the provincial government has introduced more restrictions. "I can't tell you how ineffective book bans are, because the minute that someone produces a list of things you should not read or should not be spread around, it'll spread like wildfire," Schatz told Taproot.
  • Jordan Abel was a guest on Bookends with Mattea Roach to discuss his new poetry collection, Dad Era, in which he reflects on fatherhood. "I still feel all the things I did before, but also now I'm in this position where I have to explain Indigeneity and urban Indigeneity, in particular, to my daughter at some point. That really made me think about how to do that, and that also led me to think about what it means to be human, what it means to exist in this world in a kind of general sense, what it means to exist in Canada or Edmonton in particular as an urban Indigenous person."
  • Edmonton author Katherine Koller spoke to CBC's Daybreak Alberta about her new short story collection Earthen: Stories, which explores humanity's relationship with nature.
  • Kiskisomitok ᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᐠ by reuben quinn has won the 2026 Indigenous Voices Award for published prose in English. The jury called the book "a cultural treasure that will leave a legacy for future generations."
  • Tonya Simpson, an author, educator, and forensic anthropologist, discussed her children's book This Land Is a Lullaby on the U of A Reads podcast. The book celebrates the Prairies and explores the connections between Indigenous children, their ancestors, and the land.
  • Edify, New Trail, Alberta Views, Funicular, WestWord, and The Polyglot are among the finalists for the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association awards. Kim Larson, creative director of Odvod Media, will be honoured for achievement in publishing. The awards will be presented in September in Calgary.

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Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

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