Retired police superintendent Keith Merith ended his 31-year tenure in 2017 after holding command positions, including Bureau Commander of Information Services and Court Services and Officer-In-Charge of Investigative Services and the Organized Crime Bureau. Keith volunteers with various organizations mandated to pursue social justice, police reform and equality. Keith is the author of a national […]
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A.G.A Wilmot (BFA, MPub) is an award-winning writer and editor based out of Toronto. Their credits include myriad online and in-print publications and anthologies, and their first book, The Death Scene Artist, was published by Buckrider Books in 2018. Find them online at AndrewWilmot.ca. A.G.A Wilmot’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Toronto Lit Up.
Andrew F. Sullivan is the author of the novel The Marigold. His short story collection All We Want is Everything and his debut novel Waste were both named Best Books of the Year by The Globe and Mail (Toronto). He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.
Tamara Cherry is a Regina-based award-winning journalist, trauma researcher and media commentator who spent nearly 15 years reporting on crime in Canada’s biggest newsrooms. She is also the founder of Pickup Communications, a public relations firm that is changing the way trauma survivors interact with and are impacted by the media.
Dietrich Kalteis is the winner of the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for Best Crime Novel for Under an Outlaw Moon. He is a critically acclaimed author of 10 novels. Dietrich’s debut was hailed as one of Vancouver’s best crime novels, his second was translated and became a bestseller in Germany, and […]
Daniel Innes’ extensive portfolio includes painting, installation, graphic and textile design, illustration, sign painting and tattooing. He uses traditional commercial art techniques, with a focus on the process. He has a special interest in creating works that have the possibility of an immersive physical experience. Daniel was born in the north end of Toronto and […]
Christina Wong is a playwright, prose writer and a multidisciplinary artist who also works in sound installation, audio documentaries and photography. Her plays have been performed at Factory Studio, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace and Palmerston Library Theatre. Her work has also appeared in TOK Magazine, the Toronto Star, and on CJRU 1280AM. Christina grew up […]
Chris MacDonald is a tattoo artist and the owner of Under My Thumb Tattoos, a respected tattoo studio in Toronto, Ontario. He is a songwriter and a guitarist with LeBarons. Chris lives with his wife and daughter by the lake. The Things I Came Here With is his first book.
Robert Priest, is the author of fourteen books of poetry, 3 plays, 4 novels, lots of musical CDS, and one hit song. His words have been debated in the legislature, posted in the Transit system, quoted in the Farmer’s Almanac, and sung on Sesame Street. His book Reading the Bible Backwards (ECW) peaked at number […]
Daniel Drache is professor emeritus of political science and senior research fellow at the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University in Toronto. He is the author of over twenty books on social policy and international affairs. He lives in Toronto.
Dr. Dave Williams is an astronaut, aquanaut, pilot, emergency physician, scientist and CEO. He has flown to space twice, once on the space shuttle Columbia and once on Endeavour, logging over thirteen million kilometres in space and over seventeen hours of spacewalks. He holds the Canadian spacewalking record and was the first Canadian to have […]
Jamal Saeed spent 12 years as a prisoner of conscience in Syria before being invited to Canada in 2016. He continues to raise awareness about Syria’s ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis through his work as an activist, editor, visual artist, and author. He lives in Kingston, ON.
Michael Barclay is the author of the 2018 national bestseller The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip. He is also a co-author of Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985–95, to which this book could be considered a sequel. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Brian “Chip” Martin is a retired award-winning journalist who developed an intimate knowledge of Southwestern Ontario. He has written true crime books, biographies and several books about baseball history, some of which focus on the contributions made to the game by Canada and Canadians. An avid historian, he is a member of the London and […]
Born in Montreal, Neil Besner grew up in Rio de Janeiro, has taught and travelled widely in Brazil, and is fluent in Portuguese. He taught Canadian literature at the University of Winnipeg for thirty years. He has written and edited books on Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro and Carol Shields, as well as numerous articles. His […]
Terri Favro is a novelist, essayist and storyteller who loves comic strips, superheroes, robots, migration stories and weird science. Her books include Sputnik’s Children (a Globe100 book, long-listed for CBC Canada Reads) and the popular science book Generation Robot: A Century of Science Fiction, Fact and Speculation. Publisher’s Weekly called her new novel The Sisters […]
Born in Gaspésie, Eric Thibault has covered police and organized crime in Quebec since 1993. He has written for the Journal de Montréal since 2011. Félix Séguin has covered multiple major national and international news stories since the early 2000s. He specializes in police investigations and organized crime. Inside the Montreal Mafia is the third […]
Helen Walsh is the founder and president of Diaspora Dialogues, Canada’s premier literary mentoring organization. Formerly the publisher of the Literary Review of Canada and a founding director of Spur, a national festival of politics, arts, and ideas, Walsh spent five years working as a film/digital media producer in L.A. and New York. She lives […]
K.J. Aiello is a mentally ill, award-winning writer based in Toronto, ON. Their work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, The Walrus and This Magazine. They are still waiting for their very own dragon. Sadly, this has not happened, so their cats will have to suffice.
Michael ‘Piecez’ Prosserman found his passion for breakdancing at a very young age. By the time he was three, Michael was already standing on his head while watching Saturday morning cartoons. Michael is a university instructor, mental health advocate, and professional speaker, specializing in start-ups, team culture, fundraising, and succession. He is the founder of UNITY […]
Cordelia Strube is the author of 11 critically acclaimed novels. She has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Paul Vermeersch is a poet, multimedia artist, creative writing professor and literary editor. He is the author of several poetry collections, including the Trillium Award-nominated The Reinvention of the Human Hand. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph for which he received the Governor General’s Gold Medal. His poems have been translated […]
