Leanne Betasamosake Simpson in Conversation

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer and artist, who has been widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. Her work breaks open the intersections between politics, story and song — bringing audiences into a rich and layered world of sound, light, and sovereign creativity. We’re so happy to welcome Leanne to the festival for the first time in celebration of Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, a revolutionary look at that most elemental force, water. In this inventive work, Simpson artfully weaves Nishnaabeg story and tradition with her own deep thinking and lived experience — and offers a vision of water as a catalyst for radical transformation, capable of birthing a new world.