Didier Leclair (Didier Kabagema) was born in Montreal to Rwandan parents. He grew up in Africa—Gabon, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville—and returned to Canada in 1987. Since then, he has been living and writing in Toronto. In 2000, his novel Toronto, I Love You won the Prix Trillium, and he has also been a finalist for the Trillium in 2011, 2016 and 2018. His second novel, Ce pays qui est le mien, was shortlisted for the 2004 Governor General’s for French-language fiction, and its English translation, This Country of Mine, was a finalist for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards.