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Roxanne Bouchard, a French-Canadian author, playwright and lecturer, has taken the crime fiction world by storm with her atmospheric thrillers. Her fifth novel, We Were the Salt of the Sea, was shortlisted for multiple awards and was named the Quai Du Polar Crime Book of the Year. Now, her latest release, Whisper of the Seals (Orenda Books), has become a number one bestseller in Canada. The novel follows fisheries officer Simone Lord, who is thrust into danger aboard a trawler during a brutal seal hunt on the icy seas of Quebec’s remote Magdalen Islands. Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès is on his own case down the St. Lawrence River, and as the two investigations converge, the stakes get higher, and the danger more intense. Bouchard’s gripping and terrifying thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Roxanne Bouchard will participate in the following events:

Open-air Reading: Roxanne Bouchard
June 3, 2023 at 12pm ET, Stage in the Park

Fan Favourite Characters: Roxanne Bouchard & Marcie R. Rendon
June 4, 2023 at 2:30pm ET, Brigantine Room

Perry Chafe is a Canadian television writer, producer and songwriter known for his hit TV show Republic of Doyle. Born and raised in the small fishing community of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, Chafe brings his knowledge of the rugged coastal landscapes and the people who inhabit them to his debut novel, Closer by Sea (Simon & Schuster). In this poignant coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of a small island community in 1991, Chafe weaves a literary mystery that explores the fragility of childhood bonds and the brutal reality of both the natural and modern world. Part homage to the people and the place, part suspenseful thriller, Closer by Sea is a powerful novel that captures the delicate and tender moment when childhood innocence gives way to the harsh awakening of adult experience.

Perry Chafe will participate in the following events:

Newfoundland Noir: The Toronto launch of Closer By Sea by Perry Chafe, with special guests
June 3, 2023 at 8pm ET, Brigantine Room

Splitting her time between Toronto and Florida, Joy Fielding, the New York Times bestselling author of Someone Is Watching and Now You See Her, delivers another heart-pounding novel with The Housekeeper (Doubleday Canada). Jodi Bishop, a successful real estate agent, hires a housekeeper to help care for her aging parents, Vic and Audrey. But soon, Elyse Woodley, the housekeeper, takes over their lives, shutting Jodi out and manipulating her way into Audrey’s heart. As Audrey’s condition rapidly deteriorates, Jodi begins to suspect that there’s something sinister about Elyse’s intentions. A gripping tale of domestic suspense, The Housekeeper is a must-read for fans of the genre.

Joy Fielding will participate in the following events:

The Housekeeper: Joy Fielding
June 3, 2023 at 11:30am ET, Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Torontonian Elyse Friedman is an acclaimed author, screenwriter, poet and playwright whose works have been recognized by prominent awarding bodies such as the Trillium Book Award and the Tom Hendry Award. Her short story, The Soother, also won the gold National Magazine Award for Fiction. Her latest book, The Opportunist (HarperCollins), is a riveting tale of greed, power and family intrigue, perfect for fans of The Nest and Succession. Join Elyse Friedman on a thrilling ride as she takes readers on a journey through a dangerous scheme full of secrets and surprises. With smart and entertaining writing that brims with shocking twists and turns, The Opportunist is a must-read for those who love razor-sharp commentary on those who wield power in this world.

Elyse Friedman will participate in the following events:

Unsettling Circumstances: Elyse Friedman & Jenny Lund Madsen
June 4, 2023 at 12:30pm ET, Brigantine Room

Maureen Jennings, born in the UK, now residing in Toronto, is a celebrated author known for her gripping Detective Murdoch books, which have been adapted into the hit television series Murdoch Mysteries. She has also authored the Tom Tyler and Christine Morris series, and her books have been translated into multiple languages, including Italian, French, German and Czech. Her latest crime novel, Cold Snap (Cormorant Books), has been shortlisted for the 2023 Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada. The story is set in 1936 Toronto, where Charlotte Frayne narrowly escapes a car accident and meets a German refugee who possesses crucial information that could alter history. When Charlotte investigates her estranged mother’s request to locate her long-lost son, the two cases unexpectedly converge, revealing surprising connections.

Maureen Jennings will participate in the following events:

The Merry Widow Murders: Melodie Campbell with Maureen Jennings
June 2, 2023 at 6pm ET, Lakeside Terrace

Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: Kjell Ola Dahl & Maureen Jennings
June 4, 2023 at 6:30pm ET, Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Daniel Kalla, the internationally bestselling author of many novels, including Lost Immunity and We All Fall Down, delivers a breathtaking thriller in Fit To Die (Simon & Schuster). When a famous pop star and social media influencer dies from an overdose of illicit diet pills, LAPD Detective Cari Garcia and Vancouver Detective Anson Chen team up to investigate. As the body count rises, the detectives must race against time to uncover the people responsible for the online marketing and distribution of the lethal pills before it’s too late. Kalla, a practicing emergency medicine physician in Vancouver, infuses the novel with authentic medical knowledge, making for a truly realistic and heart-pounding read.

Daniel Kalla will participate in the following events:

Novel Warnings: Paul E. Hardisty & Daniel Kalla
June 3, 2023 at 12:30pm ET, Brigantine Room

Open-air Reading: Daniel Kalla
June 4, 2023 at 1:15pm ET, Harbourfront Centre’s West Bays

Dietrich Kalteis, winner of the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for Best Crime Novel for Under an Outlaw Moon, delivers an electrifying tale of crime and consequence in his latest book, The Get (ECW Press). Set in mid-’60s Toronto, Lenny Ovitz, a man with a dark past, is desperate to rid himself of his wife and financial problems in one fell swoop. As a member of a ruthless gangster’s collection racket, Lenny’s days are spent terrorizing locals for protection money. With dirty money borrowed from shady sources, Lenny and his partner Gabe purchase a tenement block that they can’t afford to maintain. Determined to pay off their debts, Lenny concocts a plan to re-mortgage his house without his wife’s knowledge. But, with secrets come consequences, and Lenny’s plan takes a dangerous turn.

Dietrich Kalteis will participate in the following events:

A Tale of Two Crime Cities: Dietrich Kalteis & Sam Wiebe
June 3, 2023 at 11:30am ET, Lakeside Terrace

Amy Stuart, bestselling author of Still Mine, Still Water and Still Here, delivers a sensational thriller in A Death at a Party (Simon & Schuster), perfect for fans of Ashley Audrain and Lisa Jewell. The story takes place over the course of a single day, as Nadine Walsh prepares to host a summer garden party to celebrate her mother’s birthday. When Nadine discovers a dead body in her basement, the celebration takes a dark turn, and secrets are uncovered. As the night progresses and her guests mingle, Nadine’s anxieties mount, and she must grapple with haunting memories and unanswered questions about what led to the deadly incident.

Amy Stuart will participate in the following events:

Tea, Cake & Murder with Jessa Maxwell & Amy Stuart
June 3, 2023 at 3pm ET, Lakeside Terrace

Open-air Reading: Amy Stuart
June 4, 2023 at 5:15pm ET, Harbourfront Centre’s West Bays

Scott Thornley is a highly acclaimed Canadian author who has written five novels in the popular MacNeice Mysteries series (House of Anansi Press): Erasing Memory, The Ambitious City, Raw Bone, Vantage Point and Middlemen. The series features Detective Superintendent MacNeice, who is thrown into complex cases that require maximum expertise and intuition to solve. Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Thornley drew inspiration from his hometown to create the fictional setting of Dundurn in his books. He was appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1990 and became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018. If you’re a fan of crime fiction with richly drawn characters and intricate plots, Scott Thornley’s MacNeice Mysteries series is definitely worth a read.

Scott Thornley will participate in the following events:

Secrets of the Streets: Simone Buchholz & Scott Thornley
June 04, 2023 at 4:30pm, Lakeside Terrace

Sam Wiebe has established himself as one of Canada’s most authentic and critically acclaimed contemporary crime writers. His Wakeland novels have garnered much praise, winning the Crime Writers of Canada Award and the Kobo Emerging Writers prize, and have also been shortlisted for many other awards, including the Edgar, Hammett, Shamus and City of Vancouver Book Prizes. In Sunset and Jericho (Harbour Publishing), the fourth instalment of the Wakeland series, Wiebe takes readers on a thrilling quest to Vancouver’s criminal underworld. PI Dave Wakeland finds himself caught up in a world of class warfare and ethical dilemmas as he investigates the disappearance of the mayor’s brother, and the theft of a transit cop’s service weapon.

Sam Wiebe will participate in the following events:

A Tale of Two Crime Cities: Dietrich Kalteis & Sam Wiebe
June 3, 2023 at 11:30am ET, Lakeside Terrace

Drawing on both lived experience and cultural memory, Norma Dunning brings together six powerful new short stories centred on modern-day Inuk characters in Tainna: The Unseen Ones, Short Stories. Norma Dunning’s masterful storytelling uses humour and incisive detail to create compelling characters who discover themselves in a hostile land where prejudice, misogyny and inequity are most often found hidden in plain sight. Tainna won the 2021 Governor General’s Award for literature. Also be sure to pre-order Dunning’s next book, Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother.

See Norma Dunning in the following event:

Critical Conversation: Continuing to Act: Reconciling, Not Reconciliation
October 2 at 7pm, Studio Theatre

In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight into the ongoing legacy of colonialism in A Mind Spread Out on the Ground. She engages with such wide-ranging topics as race, parenthood, love, mental illness, poverty, writing and representation, and in the process makes connections between the past and present, the personal and political. With deep consideration and searing prose, Elliott provides a candid look at our past, an illuminating portrait of our present and a powerful tool for a better future.

See Alicia Elliot in the following event:

The Re-Read: Tomson Highway on Indigenous Mythology
September 28 at 8pm, Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Laughing with the Trickster provides brilliant, jubilant insights into the glory and anguish of life from one of the world’s most treasured Indigenous creators. Trickster is zany, ridiculous. The ultimate, over-the-top, madcap fool. Here to remind us that the reason for existence is to have a blast and to laugh ourselves silly.

See Tomson Highway in the following event:

The Re-Read: Tomson Highway on Indigenous Mythology
September 28 at 8pm, Harbourfront Centre Theatre

A wildfire of a debut memoir by internationally recognized French/Cree/Iroquois journalist Brandi Morin set to transform the narrative around Indigenous Peoples. Morin is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence. Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin’s journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism.

See Brandi Morin in the following event:

Critical Conversation: Continuing to Act: Reconciling, Not Reconciliation
October 2 at 7pm, Studio Theatre

A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice, blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn. Moon of the Crusted Snow was the winner of the 2019 OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen award.

See Waubgeshig Rice in the following events:

A Different Page: Open Creation
September 30 at 12pm, South Lawn Tent

A Different Page Presented by Pratibha Arts
September 30 at 8pm, Lakeside Terrace

When the world entered pandemic lockdown in spring 2020, Robyn Maynard, influential author of Policing Black Lives, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, renowned artist, musician, and author of Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies, began writing each other letters which grew into a powerful exchange about where we go from here. By articulating to each other Black and Indigenous perspectives on our unprecedented here and now, Maynard and Simpson create something new in Rehearsals for Living: an urgent demand for a different way forward, and a poetic call to dream up other ways of ordering earthly life.

See Leanne Betasamosake Simpson in the following event:

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson in Concert
October 1 at 7:30pm, Concert Stage

Capturing the chaos and wonder of a precarious childhood, Cody Caetano delivers a fever dream coming-of-age garnished with a slang all his own. Half-Bads in White Regalia is an unforgettable debut that unspools a tangled family history with warmth, humour, and deep generosity.

Magodiz (Anishinabemowin, Algonquin dialect): a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of their country.

Everything that was green and good is gone, scorched away by a war that no one living remembers. The small surviving human population scavenges to get by; they cannot read or write and lack the tools or knowledge to rebuild. The only ones with any power are the mindless Enforcers, a formless spiritual entity that has infiltrated the world to subjugate the human population.

With themes of resistance, of ceremony as the conduit between realms, of transcending gender, Magodiz is a powerful and visionary reclamation that Two-Spirit people always have and always will be vital to the cultural and spiritual legacy of their communities.

When the earth was new, words had the power to breathe life into the world. But when creating animals from breath, sometimes one does not get everything right on the first try! Based on a traditional Inuit story passed forward orally for generations in the South Baffin region of Nunavut, The Walrus and the Caribou shares with young readers the origin of the caribou and the walrus—and tells of how very different these animals looked when they were first conceived.

Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia, a seer, and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu’Chahlnuth territory. Celia’s Song relates one Nuu’Chahlnuth family’s harrowing experiences over several generations, after the brutality, interference, and neglect resulting from contact with Europeans.

Conceived in the same world as their acclaimed debut, Bones, Tyler Pennock’s Blood follows a Two-Spirit Indigenous person as they navigate urbanity, queerness, and a kaleidoscope of dreams, memory, and kinship. Pennock weaves longing, intimacy and Anishinaabe relationalities to recentre and rethink their speaker’s relationship to the living-never forgetting non-human kin. It is a reminder that Indigenous people carry the impacts of colonial history and wrestle with them constantly, exploring the relationships between spring and winter, ice and water, static things and things beginning to move, and what emerges in the thaw.

Morgan and Eli are Indigenous children who discover a portal at their foster home to another world, Askī; there they discover talking animal beings who connect them to traditional ways, as well as help them deal with the challenges in the real world. A fantasy for readers aged ten and up, the Misewa Saga (“misewa” is Cree for “all that is”) series reflects stories of the sky and the constellations held within its great canvas. Get your copy of Barren Grounds, Great Bear and Stone Child.

Based on her Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy series, All Our Relations is a powerful call for action, justice, and a better, more equitable world for all Indigenous Peoples. In this urgent and incisive work, bestselling and award-winning author Tanya Talaga explores the alarming rise of youth suicide in Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond. The Indigenous experience in colonized nations are marked by the violent separation of Peoples from the land, the separation of families and the separation of individuals from traditional ways of life. But, Talaga reminds us, First Peoples also share a history of resistance, resilience, and civil rights activism.

Whitemud Walking is a genre-bending work of visual and lyric poetry, non-fiction prose, photography, and digital art and design. Using photos, documents, and recordings that are about or involve his ancestors, but are kept in archives, Weigel examines the consequences of this erasure and sequestration.

Drop in at the TIFA Kids tent any day of the Festival for endless fun at Storydrop! Presented in partnership with the Children’s Book Bank, Storydrop offers fun, hands-on activities for ages 4 and up. Dress up as your favourite character and bring a book to life at the Book Jacket Photobooth; contribute to the creation of the Great Collage Creature, a large crowd-created art piece to be displayed at the Children’s Book Bank; cozy up for an afternoon of reading in the book nook, where you’ll find books by featured authors and illustrators at the Festival. Plus, each weekend of the Festival from 2–4pm, there will be the chance to join in with an illustrator from the programme to create a giant piece of artwork.

Located on the west lawn at Harbourfront Centre, this space is part of the free, outdoor events at #FestofAuthors22.

Hear authors and illustrators talk about their latest books in person each day of the Festival. Don’t miss Rochelle Strauss and Natasha Donovan talking about the ocean or Joyce Grant exploring the importance of teaching kids to navigate the internet with a critical eye. As well, Michael Hutchinson, Nancy Vo, Kenneth Oppel and Sachiko Kashiwaba are just some of the authors joining us for conversations, Q&A and readings. Browse more events here.

The world’s supply of happiness is running low and The Happiness Collectors need your help! Pop on your headphones and join SAM (Special Agent M) on a journey of sounds and silliness to learn the best ways to collect happiness – and most important of all, how to pass it on! SAM will take your around the world to visit the jungle, the Antarctic, New York City, a beach, an Olympic stadium and the circus.

The Happiness Collectors is friendly for all neurodiverse people and families with children aged 5+. Each audience member will be given a set of wireless headphones to wear for the duration of the performance.

Registration is needed to attend. Book your tickets here. See Additional Performance Dates to select a time.

Located in the South Lawn Tent, this event is part of the free, outdoor events at #FestofAuthors22.

It wouldn’t be a book festival without some of the best storytellers reading books to you! Join your favourite authors reading their own books or even their favourite books. Author and illustrator Kevin Sylvester discusses the latest book in his Hockey Super Six series, In The Game, as well as Apartment 713. Linda Bondestam will take you under the sea in My Life at the Bottom to learn about one of the world’s rarest sea creatures with the chance to do some drawings of your own. On September 25 and October 2, Fay and Fluffy will be on the Stage in the Park spreading their message of inclusivity, kindness and being proud of yourself – and show that reading is FUN-damental! There is much more to see at the festival so be sure to check out all the TIFA Kids event listings.

The Big Create & Make is a drop-in session where you can linger for 10 minutes or 2 hours, and be part of making something big, beautiful and creative! Get in on the Festival fun and meet a published picture-book illustrator, while flexing your own creative muscles. Taking place September 24–25 and October 1–2, each day will feature a different illustrator:

September 24 @ 2pm ET: Linda Bondestam
September 25 @ 2pm ET: Ellie Arscott
October 1 @ 2pm ET: Barbara Reid
October 2 @ 2pm ET: Natasha Donovan

Located in the Storydrop space (Tent B), this event is part of the free, outdoor events at #FestofAuthors22.

Calling all aspiring authors and artists! TIFA Kids is offering a variety of free writing and illustration workshops with some of the authors appearing at the festival. Ashley Spires will be talking about how she came up with her character, Binky the Space Cat, and you’ll even get to create your own comic! Ireland’s Laureate na nÓg, Áine Ní Ghlinn will take your storytelling to the next level by offering a range of writing prompts to populate your blank pages. Let your creativity flow!

Have you ever wondered how one language translates to another? Do you think we come up with the same words? Oui ou non? Join us in translating some of the picture book La Petite Créature by French illustrator and graphic artist, Marjolaine Leray. Pick the page and whatever language you like and our translators will help! What will the book look like by the end? It all depends on the words you choose …

Located in Tent C, all day September 24 & 25. this event is part of the free, outdoor events at #FestofAuthors22.

Children’s books are often the first contact we have with literature and art, and they make a powerful impression. Regardless of age and culture, we have used stories both as entertainment and in search of knowledge, to strengthen our ties with others – both those who are like us and those who are unlike us – and not least in order to understand our own existence. The Swedish Academy for Children’s Books seeks to enable children to have access to powerful and enriching reading experiences and has produced this exhibition as a tribute to children’s literature. Learn more here.

TIFA is proud to partner with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) to present the 2022 CCBC Book Awards, celebrating the best Canadian books for young people. The winners for the English-language awards will be announced in this broadcast of the much-anticipated event in the world of Canadian books for young people. You can view the event in person or virtually!

2022 Ivy Award & Conversation event

Learn more about the IV Programme