Anna Trew (she/her) was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan and moved to Toronto in 2012 to study theatre, along with port and vent marketing. After her education, she spent two years working in publicity and promotions at a boutique PR agency specializing in film and entertainment. Anna has then transitioned to the publishing industry and is currently working as the Events Coordinator at Penguin Random House Canada since March 2020.

Meredith Tutching (she/her) has been with the Ontario Library Association since 2001. As the Director of the Forest of Reading, her main responsibility is the Canada’s largest recreational program and a series of children’s literary festivals. These programs see 270,000 young people participate every year and is the largest driver of Canadian children and young adult book sales. Meredith sat on The Word on the Street Book Festival Board of Directors from 2014 until 2020. At the OLA she is the staff liaison to several committees and has over 250 active volunteers she is responsible for. In addition to literary and library work, Meredith has been a professional figure skating and synchronized skating coach for over 25 years. Her passion for sport has led her to be an advisor to Skate Ontario with respect to Synchronized Skating and is an active member of their Mentorship program that is both provincial and national in scope.

Born in the small town of Lindsay, Ontario Erin Woodward (she/her) wasn’t meant for small towns. At the age of 10 she travelled to Bali, Indonesia to live with her jewelry mogul uncle. She travelled extensively living in France, England and New York before settling back in Toronto. She attended the University of Ottawa as a Communications major and it’s here she took her first public speaking course; little did she know how much it would come in handy in her lifetime. Working in boutique PR firms she made her way into Travel PR and became the Global Head of Communication for Global Boutique Hotel Collection Small Luxury Hotels of the World. In 2008, as a passion project she launched The Girly Book Club, which grew extensively. The Book Club is now the largest of its kind operating in 15 countries with over 150,000 members worldwide. Erin runs the book club full-time and is known now as a book club expert. She has written for InStyle, Marie Claire and Chatelaine magazine.

Elham Ali (she/her) is a writer and publishing professional based in Toronto. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 2014, and since completing the Humber College publishing program she has worked in marketing and publicity at Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, Penguin Random House Canada, and Dundurn Press. She currently works as the Senior Publicist at ECW Press.