Ashley Audrain‘s debut novel, The Push, was an instant New York Times bestseller. She previously served as the publicity director of Penguin Books Canada, and prior to that, worked in public relations. She lives in Toronto, where she and her partner are raising their two young children. The Whispers is her second novel.
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Michelle Cyca is a nehiyaw writer, editor and book critic living on unceded territories of the Musqueam Band, and the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her reviews appear regularly in the Vancouver Sun and her series BOOK PERSON, profiling Canadian authors through their favourite books, is published monthly by the Tyee. Her writing has also appeared […]
Tara Henley is a Canadian writer, broadcaster and author of the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail bestseller Lean Out: A Meditation on the Madness of Modern Life. Over the past two decades, her work has appeared on CBC Radio and CBC TV, as well as in the L.A. Times, the Guardian and the Walrus. […]
Larry Audlaluk was born in Uugaqsiuvik, a small camp west of Inujjuak in northern Quebec. He was relocated to the High Arctic with his family when he was almost three years old. Larry was inducted into the Order of Canada for his years working as an ambassador for the people of Grise Fiord, Canada’s northernmost […]
Jenna Butler is the author of three critically acclaimed books of poetry, Seldom Seen Road (NeWest Press, 2013), Wells (University of Alberta Press, 2012) and Aphelion (NeWest Press, 2010); an award-winning collection of ecological essays, A Profession of Hope: Farming on the Edge the of Grizzly Trail (Wolsak and Wynn, 2015); and a poetic travelogue, […]
J.B. MacKinnon is the author or co-author of five books of non-fiction. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in such publications as the New Yorker, National Geographic and the Atlantic, as well as the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at UBC, where he teaches feature […]
Amanda Halfpenny is the Events and Program Coordinator for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. She graduated with a BA in Literature from Université Laval and then launched her career at La Maison Anglaise et Internationale, a small but mighty independent bookstore in Quebec City. She then completed her Masters in Library and Information Studies at […]
Miles Baker is the executive director of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, the world’s greatest celebration of cartoonists and the comics they create. Miles started his career in publishing at a business-to-business magazine publisher, Actual Media, following a post-graduate certificate in Publishing from Centennial College. In addition to his work on the festival, he is […]
Whitney French is a writer, multidisciplinary artist and publisher. She edited the anthology Black Writers Matter a collection of creative nonfiction, the winner of the Saskatchewan Book Award for Publishing 2020. Having worked as both a developmental and acquisitions editor, French is now the cofounder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist […]
Ifrah Hussein is a Somali-Canadian award-winning poet and author of An Anthology of Grief or the ways a Somali Woman Loves. Ifrah was the recipient of the Best Spoken Word Artist award by the ByBlacks People’s Choice Awards 2019. Ifrah represented Canada in Paris, France and was named among the top four countries at the […]
Amy Nam is a 17-year-old from Toronto, Ontario with a deep passion for educational activism, storytelling and mental health. As the co-founder and executive director of The Reclamation Project, she strives to empower individuals from marginalized backgrounds and help people challenge their explicit and implicit biases through the organization’s publication of The Radical Magazine and #ItStartsWithYOUth campaign. […]
Cheyanne Ratnam is passionate about equity, developing inclusive and accessible spaces and processes, and social innovation. As a social entrepreneur she has dedicated much of her time and expertise in child welfare, homelessness and interconnected systems through founding and leading various projects and immersing herself in community mobilization and amplification – from micro – systemic […]
Rachel Giese is an award-winning journalist and a deputy national editor at The Globe and Mail. Formerly, she was the editorial director of Xtra Magazine. Her 2018 book Boys: What it Means to Become a Man (HarperCollins Canada and Seal Press) was a Canadian bestseller and won the Writers’ Trust of Canada Shaughnessy Cohen Prize […]
Nadine Neema, born in Montreal and of Egyptian and Lebanese descent, is a multi-disciplinary artist and workshop facilitator. As a recording artist she has released four albums, was mentored by Leonard Cohen and has opened for Elton John, Joe Cocker and Cyndi Lauper. Neema began working with the Tłı̨chǫ, first as a community manager of […]
Alisa Siegel makes radio documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Her work has been recognized with many international awards. Over the past 20 years, Alisa has produced stories on subjects as varied as the underground railroad for refugees in Fort Erie, daring women artists in 1920s Montreal, the return of the trumpeter swan, Canadian nurses […]
Shoshana Magnet is a mother of two as well as full professor of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa. She is a published author and her work includes When Biometrics Fail: Race, Gender and the Technology of Identity (Duke UP, 2011). Her work with picture books focuses on big feelings and topics, […]
David Storch* is a director, an actor and a teacher. Earlier this year he directed Tom Stoppard: From Page to Stage with Hermione Lee for Toronto International Festival of Authors. Just before the pandemic closed theatres, he directed Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at Canadian Stage (a co-production with Studio 180). He has acted at theatres across the country, and has directed shows at […]
Daren A. Herbert is a stage and screen artist, whose love for acting continues to grow. Recent television appearances include recurring roles on CBC series Kim’s Convenience and Pretty Hard Cases. His theatre work includes Dora and Toronto Theatre Critics Award winning roles in The Brothers Size and Jesus Hopped the A Train at Soulpepper, as well as, The Wild Party with Musical Stage Co. Daren […]
Joan Thomas is the author of five novels, most recently Five Wives, which won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Her first novel, Reading by Lightning, won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and was nominated for four other awards. The bestseller Curiosity was named a Quill & […]
Ian Gill is an Australian-born author, journalist, critic, conservationist and, since 2020, co-founder of Upstart & Crow, a bookstore and literary arts studio on Vancouver’s Granville Island. He is a contributing editor at The Tyee and co-founder of a west coast bioregional initiative called Salmon Nation. He worked for almost 20 years as CEO of Ecotrust in Canada, […]
Rose Vespa, Hon. B.A., MLIS, MPA, is currently the Executive Director of the Canadian Children’s Book Center. Previously, she held the positions of Director of Library Services for the Mississauga Library System and CEO of the Brantford Public Library. Rose began her career as a children’s librarian; however, her 30-year professional career has encompassed work […]
Denise B. Mcleod is a proud Urban Anishinaabe Kwe, who’s home territory is Sagamok Anishnawbek F.N, located on the north shore of Lake Huron. Denise, along with her comedy sisters, founded Manifest Destiny’s Child Comedy Collective (MDC) in 2017. While with MDC she has taken the stage for events like The Toronto International Film Festival, Royal […]
Nadine Roden* is a Canadian actress and singer. She got her start in musical theatre in the North American and Canadian premiere of Mamma Mia understudying Tanya and Rosie. Some of her theatre credits include Drowsy Chaperone at Theatre Calgary and MTC; All Shook Up at Drayton Entertainment and Stage West; and Blow Wind High […]
Alix Hawley studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Oxford University, the University of East Anglia and the University of British Columbia. She published a story collection, The Old Familiar, which was longlisted for the ReLit award, with Thistledown Press in 2008. Several of her stories have won accolades from the CBC, and in 2017 Witching won […]
