Ada Smailbegovic

Ada Smailbegovic started a writers collective in 2007 known as The Society of August 23rd with several other writers and artists, one of whom is Tiziana La Melia — the designer/artist for Avowal of What is Here. They are now running a reading series, at which Ada has been involved in creating sound/writing performances. Simultaneously she has been attending the University of British Columbia, where she is completing a Masters Degree in English Literature. Prior to this she studied biology, spending the final year of her degree doing field research on harbour seals. Led by a desire to synthesize these activities she has been influenced by biological modes of thinking in her writing of and about poetry. In 1995, at the age of thirteen she immigrated to Vancouver where she now lives. She was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia.