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 […]
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Lillian Allen is the City of Toronto’s seventh poet Laureate and a creative writing professor at OCAD University. A pre-and post-language innovator, she works at the intersection of dub, sound and rebel poetics. Lillian is the author of Make the World New: The Poetry of Lillian Allen, Women Do this Every Day, Psychic Unrest, plus […]
Bardia Sinaee is the author of Intruder (Anansi, 2021).
Rebeccah Love is a Toronto-based filmmaker, writer, visual artist and community organizer. She studied at the University of King’s College, then completed a BFA in Film Production at Ryerson University and an MFA at the University of Guelph in Creative Writing. She has produced eight short films, focusing on love, illness and neighbourhoods. These stories […]
Kathleen Hepburn is a writer/director based on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Her debut feature, Never Steady, Never Still, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was awarded Best Canadian Film and Best Director by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, as well as Special Jury Prize […]
Andrea Warner is a writer, critic, broadcaster, podcaster and creative consultant focusing on music, arts, pop culture and feminism. She’s the author of the best-selling book Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography and We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the ’90s and Changed Canadian Music. She is currently co-writing the documentary film, Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry […]
Nathan Maharaj is a lifelong bookseller. He is presently the Director of Content Marketing for Rakuten Kobo, where he oversees book blogging in multiple languages and produces the Kobo in Conversation podcast.
Alexander Shvarts has a BA in Russian/Sociology with Honours in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario and an MA and Ph.D. in Sociology at University of Toronto. Shvarts has done extensive research on Russian Entrepreneurs, the Russian Mafia and Russian Jews. He is a Professor at Humber College and teaches on Race and Ethnicity, […]
Shelley McCabe, M.Sc. is a Professor of Science in the Department of Liberal Studies at Humber College. She is a biogeochemist whose intellectual interests include the cycling of elements through living and nonliving parts of our ecosystems and the role that physics plays in promoting biodiversity. Professor McCabe has been involved in biodiversity research projects […]
Aidan Moir received a PhD in Communication & Culture from York University in 2021. Her dissertation, “Punk, Obamacare, and a Jesuit: Branding the Iconic Ideals of Vivienne Westwood, Barack Obama, and Pope Francis” analyzes how the discourse of brand culture shapes the circulation of global leaders operating within the institutions that govern everyday life, such […]
Timothy Lem-Smith is a PhD Candidate in the Department of English at the University of Toronto, completing a dissertation on paranoid reading and contemporary American fiction. His research areas include 20th/21st-century American literature and culture, race, critical theory, ecocriticism and genre. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in such journals as MELUS: Multi-ethnic Literature […]
Matthew Harris is an English Professor at Humber College. His work there focuses on developing English pedagogy and curriculum that investigates how equity, technology and critical thinking impact each other in our new digital reality. He is one of the fiction editors of the Humber Literary Review and he is a part of Humber College’s […]
Tanya Neumeyer is a queer poet and educator committed to access and equity. They have led workshops for thousands of students and have been inspired by the spoken word community for 15 years.
Ann Y. K. Choi, originally from Chung-Ju, South Korea, is a Toronto-based author and educator. Her novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. In 2017, Choi was honoured by the Korean Canadian Heritage Awards committee and awarded with the Culture Award for promoting Korean heritage within Canada. Choi currently serves […]
Robert J. Wiersema is the bestselling author of Before I Wake, Bedtime Story, and four other books. One of Canada’s foremost writers on books, his reviews appear regularly in the Toronto Star, Quill & Quire and other publications, and his Beyond the Bestseller column is featured biweekly on CBC Radio. Born and raised in the […]
Antoni Cimolino is the Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, a post he was named to in 2012, having served as General Director, Executive Director and General Manager, among other roles. He began at the Stratford Festival in 1988, as an actor, taking on his first directing projects in the mid-1990s. Highlights of his career […]
Deandra Lalonde is an international bookseller who has sold books across the world, all from her home in Canada. She is currently the Content Sales Lead for North America at Rakuten Kobo, where she merchandises the eBook storefront. Using her knowledge of the ever-expanding book market, her focus is on making sure readers see the […]
Dina Del Bucchia is a writer, podcaster, literary event host, editor, creative writing instructor and otter and dress enthusiast. She is the author of the short story collection, Don’t Tell Me What to Do, and four collections of poetry, most recently, It’s a Big Deal! She is the Artistic Director of the Real Vancouver Writers’ […]
Dr. Araba Chintoh is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and a Clinician Scientist in the Schizophrenia Division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She provides care for patients in crisis at CAMH’s Sheff and Kachan Emergency Department and supports community care at Across Boundaries, Inner City Health Associates and University […]
Janet Somerville taught literature for 25 years in Toronto. She served on the PEN Canada Board and chaired many benefits that featured writers including Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Stephen King, Alice Munro, Azar Nafisi and Ian Rankin. She contributes to the Toronto Star Book Pages and has been handwriting a #LetterADay for 7 […]
Dr. Audrey Hudson is on the leadership team at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where she is the Richard & Elizabeth Currie Chief of Education & Programming. Her research focuses on museums, art education, hip-hop, Black and Indigenous solidarities, K-12 pedagogies and social change. In recognition of her work at the AGO, Audrey was […]
Eleanor Wachtel is the cofounder and host of CBC Radio’s Writers & Company, now in its 32nd season. She’s also host and moderator of TIFF’s Books on Film series. Five selections of her conversations have been published, most recently The Best of Writers & Company. She has earned numerous accolades, including nine honorary degrees from […]
Esyllt W. Jones is the Humanities Research Professor in the Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba. She is the author or editor of several books on the history of pandemic influenza, medicare and Canadian social history, including the award-winning Influenza 1918: Disease, Death and Struggle in Winnipeg (UTP, 2007). Prof. Jones has recently created a […]
Rinaldo Walcott is a professor and writer. His most recent books are The Long Emancipation: Moving Toward Black Freedom (Duke, 2021) and On Property (Bibiloasis, 2021) which was shortlisted for the Toronto Book award.
