Region Category: Winnipeg

S.M. (Samantha Mary) Beiko is an award-winning author of young adult fantasy, and the artist and writer of the graphic novel series KRAMPUS IS MY BOYFRIEND! She has worked in the book publishing industry as an editor and graphic designer since 2010, both freelance as well as for established publishing houses. She has won the Aurora Award for Best Artist multiple times, notably for her covers for Laksa Media.

Beiko's novels have been published by ECW Press in Toronto since 2013. Her first novel, THE LAKE AND THE LIBRARY, was nominated for the Manitoba Book Award that year, while SCION OF THE FOX won the Copper Cylinder Award for science fiction in 2018. She was the co-editor on the original comics anthology GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE (Bedside Press), and the sole editor on its follow up, GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED FUTURES. Her current series, The Brindlewatch Quintet, are capsule stories featuring queer characters and cozy monster romance. Her short fiction has been published in the following anthologies: GUSH, THAT WITCH WHISPERS, PARALLEL PRAIRIES, plus a short comic in DIRE BEASTS.

Beiko is also the sole creator (artist and writer) of KRAMPUS IS MY BOYFRIEND!, a slice of life teen romantic comedy which won the 2020 Aurora Award for Best Graphic Novel, and was nominated for the Joe Shuster Award for Best Webcomic that year. It is ongoing and self-published.

Beiko's freelance editorial work covers all aspects of developmental editing for prose fiction. She specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and also edits and art directs for comics and graphic novels at all stages (from pitch to script to layouts and finals). She has a studio in downtown Winnipeg's Exchange District, and is the Artistic Director for Prairie Comics Festival.

Jackie Linda Turnbull (JT) is a self-taught Winnipeg-based artist, who summers in the
Interlake. Jackie has studied with Rachael Tycoles (Acrylic Painting) and other instructors at the WAG Studio, Heather Hinam, Ph.D. of McNally Robinson Classroom and Jordan Leigh Miller of the Cre8ery.

Jackie paints in a mostly whimsical or impressionistic style and is particularly fond of natural subject matter: restful locales, birds, & small, furry animals are meaningful to her. She has enrolled in classes with Heather Hinam from 2020 – 2026 related to drawing plants, birds, animals, and butterflies.

Jackie has shown her art at shops and galleries in Winnipeg including 210 Gallery, Cre8ery Gallery, Urban Shaman Gallery, Warehouse Gallery, Wayne Arthur Gallery, and Two Macaws Concept Store Winnipeg. As a seasonal resident of the Interlake (Husavik - 10 minutes south of Gimli) Jackie has participated in group shows with the Icelandic Festival, Interlake Artist Collective, and St. Andrews Rectory.

Jackie led a painting workshop at 210 Gallery in March 2026 instructing her group on Painting a Spring Robin. She would be interested in running other workshops related to painting birds, animals, or plants.

Current memberships include Creative Manitoba, Mentoring Art for Women’s
Art (MAWA), Manitoba Arts Network, and the WAG.