Simone Dalton is an award-winning author, teaching artist, and playwright. Her work is anthologized in Watch Your Head, Black Writers Matter, and more. Simone holds an MFA from the University of Guelph and is working on her first book.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Ardo Omer is a writer and an occasional book reviewer. She’s worked in the festival space for nearly a decade and contributed short comics to two anthologies: Wayward Kindred and Toronto Comics: Osgoode As Gold.

Omer lives in Toronto, Ontario, where she serves as the Kids Program Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD).

Hudson Lin was raised by conservative immigrant parents and grew up straddling two cultures. Instead of conforming to either, she has sought to find a third way that brings together the positive elements of both.

Having spent much of her life on the outside looking in, Lin likes to write stories about outsiders who fight to carve out their place in society. Her books are heartfelt, gritty romances featuring queer people of color.

Based in Toronto, Lin currently serves as the Program Coordinator at the Festival of Literary Diversity.

Samantha Clarke is an arts and cultural worker with a passion for community building, culture and access to public programming. Successfully balancing her love for the arts, she also volunteers with local arts organization and museums where her interest for creation and freedom of expression can flourish.

Clarke lives in Brampton, Ontario where she serves as the Volunteer and Audience Engagement Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD).

David Chariandy is a writer and critic. Author of the novels Soucouyant and Brother, and the epistolary memoir I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You: A Letter To My Daughter, he has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Toronto Book Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for a body of fiction. His books have been widely discussed and translated into a dozen languages. He is Professor of English at the University of Toronto and a member of the editorial board of Brick: a literary journal.

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of three nonfiction books: Intolerable (2012), Brown (2016), and Return (2021). He holds a PhD in English and is the director of the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at UBC, Vancouver.

katherena vermette (she/her/hers) is a Michif writer from Treaty 1 territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 2013, her first book, North End Love Songs (Muses’ Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Since then, her work has garnered awards and critical accolades across genres. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, and an honourary Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba. katherena lives with her kids – fur and human – in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

David Chariandy is a writer and critic. Author of the novels Soucouyant and Brother, and the epistolary memoir I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You: A Letter To My Daughter, he has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Toronto Book Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for a body of fiction. His books have been widely discussed and translated into a dozen languages. He is Professor of English at the University of Toronto and a member of the editorial board of Brick: a literary journal.

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of three nonfiction books: Intolerable (2012), Brown (2016), and Return (2021). He holds a PhD in English and is the director of the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at UBC, Vancouver.

katherena vermette (she/her/hers) is a Michif writer from Treaty 1 territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 2013, her first book, North End Love Songs (Muses’ Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Since then, her work has garnered awards and critical accolades across genres. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, and an honourary Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba. katherena lives with her kids – fur and human – in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River.

Bianca Marais cohosts the popular podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, which is aimed at helping emerging writers get published. She teaches creative writing through the podcast and was named winner of the Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. She's the author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words, If You Want to Make God Laugh, The Witches of Moonshyne Manor and the forthcoming A Most Puzzling Murder.

Carly Watters is a Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary and VP of the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents. She’s been an agent for 15 years and represents award-winners and bestsellers in a variety of categories. Clients have been translated into 40 languages, optioned for TV and film, and have been on every bestseller list including the NYT and Globe and Mail. Carly co-hosts The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing podcast. She has a Masters in Publishing Studies from City University London and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports program.

CeCe Lyra is a literary agent representing adult fiction and non-fiction. She is drawn to books with strong hooks and smooth writing, told with originality, nuance, and authenticity. As a mixed race Latinx immigrant, CeCe understands the power of seeing oneself reflected in books, hence her passion for championing under or misrepresented voices and narratives that contribute to a larger cultural conversation. CeCe is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA). The popular podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, for which CeCe is a co-host, has over three million downloads.

Marin Takikawa is an agent and foreign rights director at The Friedrich Agency. Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore and NYC, she joined TFA in early 2021 and now handles selling international rights for authors like Alison Espach, Jane Smiley, the Estate of Frank McCourt, in addition to representing her own list. She's looking for subversive, genre-bending literary fiction, intersectional narrative nonfiction, and voice-driven and literary-leaning YA. Her clients include National Endowment for the Arts, We Need Diverse Books, Tin House, Asian American Writers' Workshop, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellows.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Andrea Currie’s debut book Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves is a weaving of memoir, essay and poetry that illustrates the depth and breadth of the impact of the Sixties Scoop, the love between a brother and a sister, the challenges of living with profound cultural loss, and the healing that is sometimes possible. The pieces range from bluntly honest critique of the colonial practices that permeate child welfare agencies to tender accounts of two children’s vulnerability in childhoods defined by that system. In this timely work of narrative non-fiction, Currie asks as many questions as she answers.

Kagiso Lesego Molope is a South African-Canadian novelist of four award-winning novels. She is a eacher of creative writing currently at University of Ottawa. Her next novel will be released in January 2026 with Maclelland and Stewart.

Sheung-King's debut novel, You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked (Book*hug Press, 2020), is a finalist for the 2021 Governor General's Award, a finalist for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, longlisted for CBC’s Canada Reads 2021, named one of the best book debuts of 2020 by the  , selected for the 2020 Writers' Trust Amplified Voices, and optioned for film adaptation by Fluent Films, Montreal. His second novel, BATSHIT SEVEN, published by Penguin Random House Canada in 2024, won the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Carrianne Leung is a fiction writer and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Creative Writing. Her books include The Wondrous Woo and That Time I Loved You which was awarded the Danuta Gleed Literary Award 2019. She is currently working on a new novel, titled The After.

Andrea Currie’s debut book Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves is a weaving of memoir, essay and poetry that illustrates the depth and breadth of the impact of the Sixties Scoop, the love between a brother and a sister, the challenges of living with profound cultural loss, and the healing that is sometimes possible. The pieces range from bluntly honest critique of the colonial practices that permeate child welfare agencies to tender accounts of two children’s vulnerability in childhoods defined by that system. In this timely work of narrative non-fiction, Currie asks as many questions as she answers.

Kagiso Lesego Molope is a South African-Canadian novelist of four award-winning novels. She is a eacher of creative writing currently at University of Ottawa. Her next novel will be released in January 2026 with Maclelland and Stewart.

Sheung-King's debut novel, You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked (Book*hug Press, 2020), is a finalist for the 2021 Governor General's Award, a finalist for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, longlisted for CBC’s Canada Reads 2021, named one of the best book debuts of 2020 by the  , selected for the 2020 Writers' Trust Amplified Voices, and optioned for film adaptation by Fluent Films, Montreal. His second novel, BATSHIT SEVEN, published by Penguin Random House Canada in 2024, won the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Alicia Ellis decided to write books about ten minutes before graduating from law school. Now, she’s an Atlanta attorney moonlighting as an author, electronics junkie, and secret superhero. With two degrees in computer science and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, she loves creative problem-solving, especially as it relates to high-tech things. Alicia writes mysteries, sometimes in fantasy or science fiction settings and sometimes in the real world. Her debut novel, Girl of Flesh and Metal, was the first self-published book ever to make the American Library Association’s LITA Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists.

Katia Rose loves to write romances that make her readers laugh, cry, and swoon (preferably in that order). She’s rarely found without a cup of tea nearby, and she’s more than a little obsessed with tiny plants. Katia is proudly bisexual and has a passion for writing about love in all its forms.

Tao Wong is a full-time author in the scifi and fantasy genres, writing predominantly in the LitRPG and xianxia sub-genres. A multiple times international Amazon bestseller, he is best known for the System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li universes, with over 40 full-length novels and numerous shorter works published. Tao was a finalist for the Kindle Storyteller UK Award in 2021.

Denise Da Costa is a Canadian, Toronto-based writer whose work explores the complexities of love, mental health, and intersectional identity. She studies Creative Writing as an MFA student at UBC and is an alumnus of the Humber School of Writers. Her publishing credits include an essay in the anthology, Subdivided: City-Building in an Age of Hyper-Diversity (Coach House Books 2016). Her debut novel And the Walls Came Down (Dundurn 2023), was longlisted for the 2024 Toronto Book Award. She’s currently working on her next novel.

Anita Chong is the Editorial Director of Fiction at McClelland & Stewart, where she edits literary fiction and memoir, and champions writers from traditionally underrepresented communities. Some of the highly acclaimed books she has edited include Sharon Bala’s The Boat People, Shashi Bhat’s Death by a Thousand Cuts, Michael Christie’s Greenwood, Tsering Yangzom Lama’s We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, Jen Sookfong Lee’s Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, Janika Oza’s A History of Burning, and Souvankham Thammavongsa’s How to Pronounce Knife.

Carly Watters is a Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary and VP of the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents. She’s been an agent for 15 years and represents award-winners and bestsellers in a variety of categories. Clients have been translated into 40 languages, optioned for TV and film, and have been on every bestseller list including the NYT and Globe and Mail. Carly co-hosts The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing podcast. She has a Masters in Publishing Studies from City University London and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports program.

Marin Takikawa is an agent and foreign rights director at The Friedrich Agency. Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore and NYC, she joined TFA in early 2021 and now handles selling international rights for authors like Alison Espach, Jane Smiley, the Estate of Frank McCourt, in addition to representing her own list. She's looking for subversive, genre-bending literary fiction, intersectional narrative nonfiction, and voice-driven and literary-leaning YA. Her clients include National Endowment for the Arts, We Need Diverse Books, Tin House, Asian American Writers' Workshop, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellows.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Alicia Ellis decided to write books about ten minutes before graduating from law school. Now, she’s an Atlanta attorney moonlighting as an author, electronics junkie, and secret superhero. With two degrees in computer science and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, she loves creative problem-solving, especially as it relates to high-tech things. Alicia writes mysteries, sometimes in fantasy or science fiction settings and sometimes in the real world. Her debut novel, Girl of Flesh and Metal, was the first self-published book ever to make the American Library Association’s LITA Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the arts and distinguished achievements. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.

KJ Aiello is a mentally ill, award-winning writer based in Toronto. 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.

Samantha Jones is a poet, editor, and earth scientist based in Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary, Alberta). Sam describes herself as a mixed-race woman or as both Black Canadian and white settler with roots in Nova Scotia, Québec, and Ontario. She is a journal and magazine enthusiast with words in CV2, Room, GeoHumanities, the Capilano Review, the Fiddlehead, and elsewhere. Sam has two experimental chapbooks that explore living with OCD—Site Orientation (The Blasted Tree) and wallpaper (Model Press). Her debut full-length poetry collection, Attic Rain, was published by NeWest Press in September 2024.

David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the arts and distinguished achievements. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.

KJ Aiello is a mentally ill, award-winning writer based in Toronto. 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.

Samantha Jones is a poet, editor, and earth scientist based in Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary, Alberta). Sam describes herself as a mixed-race woman or as both Black Canadian and white settler with roots in Nova Scotia, Québec, and Ontario. She is a journal and magazine enthusiast with words in CV2, Room, GeoHumanities, the Capilano Review, the Fiddlehead, and elsewhere. Sam has two experimental chapbooks that explore living with OCD—Site Orientation (The Blasted Tree) and wallpaper (Model Press). Her debut full-length poetry collection, Attic Rain, was published by NeWest Press in September 2024.

Kyo Lee is a Korean Canadian student and the author of the poetry collection i cut my tongue on a broken country (Arsenal Pulp Press). She is the youngest winner of the CBC Poetry Prize and youngest finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award. Her literature also appears in Narrative, Nimrod, Prism, The Forge, and This Magazine, among others. She loves colourful skies, summer peaches, and oceans. You can visit her online @kyolee.me.

KJ Aiello is a mentally ill, award-winning writer based in Toronto. 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.

Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Book of Tea duology (A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet), was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Canada with her family at a young age. She grew up with her nose in a book and loved to escape to imaginary worlds. She now works as an occupational therapist and still spends her nights dreaming up imaginary worlds of her own. She lives on the Canadian prairies with her husband and daughters.

Kate Gies is a writer and educator living in Toronto. She teaches creative nonfiction and expressive arts at George Brown College. Her writing has been published in the Malahat Review, the Humber Literary Review, Hobart, Minola Review, and the Best Canadian Essays 2024 Anthology. She is the author of IT MUST BE BEAUTIFUL TO BE FINISHED, a memoir about her childhood medical experiences related to a missing ear.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Ruby Barrett writes steamy romances about big feelings, featuring but not limited to: soft boys, angry girls who are secretly soft, and hot sex. Mutual pleasure, pining, and healing are common themes in her romances. Before she was a romance author, Ruby worked as a groom on a horse farm, a cigarette package warning label researcher for the Canadian Cancer Society, an essayist for a millennial parenting website, and a matchmaker where she was really good at meeting new clients but terrible at creating matches. She is a bi woman who lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Suzan Palumbo is a Trinidadian-Canadian, dark speculative fiction writer and editor. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Aurora, World Fantasy and Locus awards. She also co-founded the Ignyte Awards with L.D. Lewis and co-edited the special Caribbean issue of Strange Horizons Magazine. Her debut dark fantasy/horror short story collection Skin Thief: Stories was published in 2023 by Neon Hemlock. Her novella Countess was published by ECW Press in September 2024 and was one of Reactor's reviewer's choice best books of 2024.

Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of five bestselling novels, most recently her mystery debut, DETECTIVE AUNTY. Her debut novel, AYESHA AT LAST was a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2019. Her second novel, HANA KHAN CARRIES ON (2021) was named Best Romance Novel by the Washington Post. The New York Times described her third novel MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA (2023) as, “in a word, brilliant.” A prolific public speaker, Uzma has participated in book clubs and literary festivals around the world, and appeared on NPR, Good Morning America, and the CBC. She lives in the GTA with her family.

Kerry C. Byrne is a SFF writer and literary organizer. They lead Augur Society, including Augur Magazine, Tales & Feathers Magazine, AugurCon, and the upcoming Augur Press.

Ruby Barrett writes steamy romances about big feelings, featuring but not limited to: soft boys, angry girls who are secretly soft, and hot sex. Mutual pleasure, pining, and healing are common themes in her romances. Before she was a romance author, Ruby worked as a groom on a horse farm, a cigarette package warning label researcher for the Canadian Cancer Society, an essayist for a millennial parenting website, and a matchmaker where she was really good at meeting new clients but terrible at creating matches. She is a bi woman who lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Suzan Palumbo is a Trinidadian-Canadian, dark speculative fiction writer and editor. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Aurora, World Fantasy and Locus awards. She also co-founded the Ignyte Awards with L.D. Lewis and co-edited the special Caribbean issue of Strange Horizons Magazine. Her debut dark fantasy/horror short story collection Skin Thief: Stories was published in 2023 by Neon Hemlock. Her novella Countess was published by ECW Press in September 2024 and was one of Reactor's reviewer's choice best books of 2024.

Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of five bestselling novels, most recently her mystery debut, DETECTIVE AUNTY. Her debut novel, AYESHA AT LAST was a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2019. Her second novel, HANA KHAN CARRIES ON (2021) was named Best Romance Novel by the Washington Post. The New York Times described her third novel MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA (2023) as, “in a word, brilliant.” A prolific public speaker, Uzma has participated in book clubs and literary festivals around the world, and appeared on NPR, Good Morning America, and the CBC. She lives in the GTA with her family.

Anna Sortino is the award-winning author of On the Bright Side and Give Me a Sign. She writes stories about disabled characters living their lives and falling in love. She has a master’s degree in Writing & Publishing from DePaul University and lives in Chicago with her dog.

Coltrane Seesequasis is a young fantasy writer of Willow Cree heritage who grew up in Gatineau, Quebec. His debut novel, Secrets of Stone, is the first book of a planned series that follows the gripping tale of a young wolf called Silversong, set in a fantasy world similar to our own. Inspired by a love of nature as well as myths and folklore that challenge the limits of creativity, Coltrane joins a new generation of writers, adding his voice to the immersive genre of fantasy.

Jumata Emill is a journalist who has covered crime and local politics in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana. He earned his BA in mass communications from Southern University and A&M College. He’s a Pitch Wars alum and a member of the Crime Writers of Color. When he’s not writing about murderous teens, he’s watching and obsessively tweeting about every franchise of the Real Housewives. Jumata lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the author of The Black Queen and Wander in the Dark.

Ameema Saeed is a book reviewer, a Sensitivity Reader, a book buyer at Indigo Books & Music, and the Books Editor for She Does the City, where she writes and curates bookish content, and book recommendations. When she’s not reading books, she likes to talk about books (especially diverse books, and books by diverse authors) on her bookstagram: @ReadWithMeemz

Daniel Maluka is a self-taught, Toronto-based artist and writer originally from South Africa. He merges Afrocentric influences with surrealist elements to explore the depths of the subconscious in his art. Daniel's visually captivating pieces have gained international recognition, being featured in galleries worldwide. In addition to visual art, Daniel has made notable contributions to literature. His works have been published in various magazines, and he has led numerous poetry workshops. His debut poetry collection, Unwashed, published by Mawenzi House, was featured in CBC's "37 Most Anticipated Poetry Books for Spring 2024." The collection is known for its visceral, image-rich poetry.

Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Book of Tea duology (A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet), was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Canada with her family at a young age. She grew up with her nose in a book and loved to escape to imaginary worlds. She now works as an occupational therapist and still spends her nights dreaming up imaginary worlds of her own. She lives on the Canadian prairies with her husband and daughters.

Mackenzie Angeconeb is an Anishinaabekwe from Lac Seul First Nation, coming from a family known to be artists. Ever since she learnt how to read, she has wanted to be an author. Never would she have thought (although she definitely wished!) that she would be an author as young as she is. When she's not writing, she can also be found beading or painting.

Tanya Boteju lives on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, BC). Part-time, she teaches English to clever and sassy young people. The rest of her time, she uses writing as an excuse to eat pastries. Her debut novel, Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens, was named a Top Ten Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. Her second novel, Bruised, was selected as a Gold Standard book by the Junior Library Guild. Look for another YA novel, Messy Perfect, and a middle grade nonfiction book about allyship in 2025.

Alyssa Gray-Tyghter is an equity-driven leader, educator, and storyteller exploring transformative learning, curriculum design, and digital storytelling to shape inclusive, justice-oriented narratives in education.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Iryn Tushabe is a Ugandan-Canadian writer and journalist. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Adda, The Walrus, and in the trace press anthology river in an ocean: essays on translation. Her short fiction has twice been included in The Journey Prize Stories: The best of Canada’s New Writers. She was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021, and a 2023 winner of the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She won City of Regina writing Award in 2020 and 2024. Everything is Fine Here (House of Anansi, 2025) is her debut novel.

John Elizabeth Stintzi (they/she) is an award-winning writer, cartoonist, and editor who grew up on a cattle farm in northwestern Ontario. JES is the author of the novels My Volcano (longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library’s Book Prize for fiction, and named a book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and the New York Public Library) and Vanishing Monuments, the poetry collection Junebat, the new collection of stories Bad Houses, and the comic The Children of Gulga-Krü.

Shashi Bhat is the author of Death by a Thousand Cuts (McClelland & Stewart), longlisted for the Giller Prize; The Most Precious Substance on Earth (M&S, Grand Central), a finalist for the Governor General's Award for fiction; and The Family Took Shape (Cormorant), a finalist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. Her fiction won the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and has appeared in publications across North America. Shashi is the editor of EVENT magazine and teaches creative writing at Douglas College.

Jack Wang is the author of THE RIVETER (novel) and WE TWO ALONE (stories), longlisted for Canada Reads 2022. He teaches at Ithaca College.

Iryn Tushabe is a Ugandan-Canadian writer and journalist. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Adda, The Walrus, and in the trace press anthology river in an ocean: essays on translation. Her short fiction has twice been included in The Journey Prize Stories: The best of Canada’s New Writers. She was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021, and a 2023 winner of the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She won City of Regina writing Award in 2020 and 2024. Everything is Fine Here (House of Anansi, 2025) is her debut novel.

John Elizabeth Stintzi (they/she) is an award-winning writer, cartoonist, and editor who grew up on a cattle farm in northwestern Ontario. JES is the author of the novels My Volcano (longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library’s Book Prize for fiction, and named a book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and the New York Public Library) and Vanishing Monuments, the poetry collection Junebat, the new collection of stories Bad Houses, and the comic The Children of Gulga-Krü.

Shashi Bhat is the author of Death by a Thousand Cuts (McClelland & Stewart), longlisted for the Giller Prize; The Most Precious Substance on Earth (M&S, Grand Central), a finalist for the Governor General's Award for fiction; and The Family Took Shape (Cormorant), a finalist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. Her fiction won the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and has appeared in publications across North America. Shashi is the editor of EVENT magazine and teaches creative writing at Douglas College.

David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the arts and distinguished achievements. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.

Tanya Talaga is of Anishinaabe and Polish descent and a proud member of Fort William First Nation. As a journalist, Talaga spent more than twenty years at the Toronto Star and is now a columnist at the Globe and Mail. Acclaimed author of national bestseller Seven Fallen Feathers, she recently released The Knowing, based on her family's experience in residential schools, and the focus of a four-part documentary series for the CBC. Talaga is the founder of Makwa Creative, a production company elevating Indigenous voices and stories through documentary films, including the Canadian Screen Award nominated War For The Woods.

Alyssa Gray-Tyghter is an equity-driven leader, educator, and storyteller exploring transformative learning, curriculum design, and digital storytelling to shape inclusive, justice-oriented narratives in education.

Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist, and the 2023-2025 Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga. She is the winner of the 2024 Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize and the 2022 Buddies Queer Emerging Artists Award, and was shortlisted for the 2023 League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award. Lisa has toured across North America, from California to New York. Her work has appeared on CBC Radio, TEDx, and Write About Now. Her first chapbook A Story Ending in Redwoods was recently published with Anstruther Press.

Patrick de Belen is a poet, filmmaker, educator and storyteller of many other mediums. His poetry, films and other projects often explore themes of mental illness, the Filipino-Canadian experience, liberation, grief and healing. When he isn’t onstage, or writing, he is an educator and community builder, partnering with many institutions like addiction centres, mental health focused organizations, libraries, schools, jails and more - advocating for social change and storytelling platforms in as many spaces as possible. Follow his storytelling journey at @patrick_debelen.

Wali Shah is the voice of a generation of youth. From hundreds of schools and colleges across North America, to performing at WeDay, Wali uses his poetry for a purpose. Thousands of youth follow him on social media, as he sparks honest and authentic conversations and raises awareness on social issues using his art and his platform.

Spitty is an Indian rapper and community leader from Brampton, Canada (just outside Toronto). His music carries a thoughtful yet energetic nature as he strives to inspire listeners through his songs. South Asian samples and instruments blend with North American influence to birth his cultured approach to hip hop. Spitty draws inspiration from artists like Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, & J. Cole. In 2024, Spitty sold out his biggest headline concert at The Drake Underground in Toronto (October) & released his 2nd album Motherland.

Daniel Maluka is a self-taught, Toronto-based artist and writer originally from South Africa. He merges Afrocentric influences with surrealist elements to explore the depths of the subconscious in his art. Daniel's visually captivating pieces have gained international recognition, being featured in galleries worldwide. In addition to visual art, Daniel has made notable contributions to literature. His works have been published in various magazines, and he has led numerous poetry workshops. His debut poetry collection, Unwashed, published by Mawenzi House, was featured in CBC's "37 Most Anticipated Poetry Books for Spring 2024." The collection is known for its visceral, image-rich poetry.

Ruby Barrett writes steamy romances about big feelings, featuring but not limited to: soft boys, angry girls who are secretly soft, and hot sex. Mutual pleasure, pining, and healing are common themes in her romances. Before she was a romance author, Ruby worked as a groom on a horse farm, a cigarette package warning label researcher for the Canadian Cancer Society, an essayist for a millennial parenting website, and a matchmaker where she was really good at meeting new clients but terrible at creating matches. She is a bi woman who lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, Yellowface, and Katabasis (forthcoming). She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Morgan Campbell is an award-winning journalist, currently a senior contributor at CBC Sports and a contributor to the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and ESPN+. For over 18 years, he worked at the Toronto Star and established himself as one of Canada’s finest sports writers, displaying both a range and depth of knowledge, finding original stories and telling them with flair and nuance. Morgan’s best work highlighted where sport intersected with off-the-field issues like race, culture, politics and business. He is the winner of the 2024 Randy Starkman Award for Leadership in Sports Journalism.

Amanda Leduc is a Canadian writer and disability rights advocate. She is the author of DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Governor General’s Award in Nonfiction. She is also the author of the novels THE CENTAUR’S WIFE and THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN. Her newest novel, WILD LIFE, will be published by Random House Canada in spring 2025.

David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the arts and distinguished achievements. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.

Dr. Amal Elsana Alhjooj, an Indigenous Bedouin Palestinian academic and activist, is an Associate Professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work and Founding Executive Director of PLEDJ (Promoting Leadership for Empowerment, Development, and Justice). For over 30 years, she has championed feminist, Indigenous community organizing, and policy advocacy in the Middle East and Canada. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee (2006), she has received numerous awards, including the Genius 100 Visionaries (2017). Dr. Elsana is the author of Hope is a Woman’s Name, a memoir exploring her activism and intersectional identity.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.

Léonicka Valcius is a 2024 graduate from the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and a Literary Agent at Transatlantic Agency. She represents books for children and adults with a focus on commercial and genre fiction by writers of color. Books she has worked on include THE WORLD SO WIDE by Zilla Jones, WAIT LIKE A SEED by Erin Alladin, THE MOONLIGHT BLADE by Tessa Barbosa.

Dr. Amal Elsana Alhjooj, an Indigenous Bedouin Palestinian academic and activist, is an Associate Professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work and Founding Executive Director of PLEDJ (Promoting Leadership for Empowerment, Development, and Justice). For over 30 years, she has championed feminist, Indigenous community organizing, and policy advocacy in the Middle East and Canada. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee (2006), she has received numerous awards, including the Genius 100 Visionaries (2017). Dr. Elsana is the author of Hope is a Woman’s Name, a memoir exploring her activism and intersectional identity.

Morgan Campbell is an award-winning journalist, currently a senior contributor at CBC Sports and a contributor to the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and ESPN+. For over 18 years, he worked at the Toronto Star and established himself as one of Canada’s finest sports writers, displaying both a range and depth of knowledge, finding original stories and telling them with flair and nuance. Morgan’s best work highlighted where sport intersected with off-the-field issues like race, culture, politics and business. He is the winner of the 2024 Randy Starkman Award for Leadership in Sports Journalism.

Tanya Talaga is of Anishinaabe and Polish descent and a proud member of Fort William First Nation. As a journalist, Talaga spent more than twenty years at the Toronto Star and is now a columnist at the Globe and Mail. Acclaimed author of national bestseller Seven Fallen Feathers, she recently released The Knowing, based on her family's experience in residential schools, and the focus of a four-part documentary series for the CBC. Talaga is the founder of Makwa Creative, a production company elevating Indigenous voices and stories through documentary films, including the Canadian Screen Award nominated War For The Woods.

Mattea Roach is the host of Bookends, an author interview show airing on CBC Radio and major podcasting platforms.

Mattea Roach is the host of Bookends, an author interview show airing on CBC Radio and major podcasting platforms.

Amanda Leduc is a Canadian writer and disability rights advocate. She is the author of DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Governor General’s Award in Nonfiction. She is also the author of the novels THE CENTAUR’S WIFE and THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN. Her newest novel, WILD LIFE, will be published by Random House Canada in spring 2025.

Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, Yellowface, and Katabasis (forthcoming). She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Suzan Palumbo is a Trinidadian-Canadian, dark speculative fiction writer and editor. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Aurora, World Fantasy and Locus awards. She also co-founded the Ignyte Awards with L.D. Lewis and co-edited the special Caribbean issue of Strange Horizons Magazine. Her debut dark fantasy/horror short story collection Skin Thief: Stories was published in 2023 by Neon Hemlock. Her novella Countess was published by ECW Press in September 2024 and was one of Reactor's reviewer's choice best books of 2024.

Lindo Forbes is a contemporary romance author. Her stories are a love letter to her hometown of Toronto and feature layered ladies falling in love.

Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, Yellowface, and Katabasis (forthcoming). She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Ozoz Sokoh is a food explorer, former geologist, educator, budding curator, and Traveler By Plate, for whom "Food Is More Than Eating." In 2009, she began journaling about food on her blog, Kitchen Butterfly. In 2013, she created the #NewNigerianKitchen, developing her philosophy and practice with Nigerian food. Her research and documentation explore the roots of Nigerian and West African cuisine, the impact of West African intellectual contributions to global development across the world. Also central to her work is connectedness through food, from food sovereignty, to cultural identity, reclamation of the food system and importantly, the joy of eating.

Shade Lapite is British-Nigerian and lives in Canada. Her debut novel, Goddess Crown, is a YA fantasy adventure about a girl raised in secret who discovers her royal heritage and must leave her sheltered home for the subtle dangers of the royal court. Shade works in digital marketing. She blogs regularly at Coffeebookshelves.com, highlighting and celebrating genre books by authors of colour. Find her online at shadelapite.com and on Instagram @Shadelapite.

Wali Shah is the voice of a generation of youth. From hundreds of schools and colleges across North America, to performing at WeDay, Wali uses his poetry for a purpose. Thousands of youth follow him on social media, as he sparks honest and authentic conversations and raises awareness on social issues using his art and his platform.

Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist, and the 2023-2025 Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga. She is the winner of the 2024 Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize and the 2022 Buddies Queer Emerging Artists Award, and was shortlisted for the 2023 League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award. Lisa has toured across North America, from California to New York. Her work has appeared on CBC Radio, TEDx, and Write About Now. Her first chapbook A Story Ending in Redwoods was recently published with Anstruther Press.

Spitty is an Indian rapper and community leader from Brampton, Canada (just outside Toronto). His music carries a thoughtful yet energetic nature as he strives to inspire listeners through his songs. South Asian samples and instruments blend with North American influence to birth his cultured approach to hip hop. Spitty draws inspiration from artists like Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, & J. Cole. In 2024, Spitty sold out his biggest headline concert at The Drake Underground in Toronto (October) & released his 2nd album Motherland.

Patrick de Belen is a poet, filmmaker, educator and storyteller of many other mediums. His poetry, films and other projects often explore themes of mental illness, the Filipino-Canadian experience, liberation, grief and healing. When he isn’t onstage, or writing, he is an educator and community builder, partnering with many institutions like addiction centres, mental health focused organizations, libraries, schools, jails and more - advocating for social change and storytelling platforms in as many spaces as possible. Follow his storytelling journey at @patrick_debelen.

The Wild Woman is an award winning spoken word artist, curator, workshop facilitator, arts educator. Sitting deeply in her gift as an oracle, she is a spiritually intuitive, queer, wild woman, bad gyal, grounded in her spirituality, inappropriateness, healing, and sacred mantras. With a poetic career that spans over a decade, The Wild Woman has cultivated a distinctive style centering her Blackness, womanity and love of soul stirring and aligning conversations, harnessing purpose and using poetry to challenge thoughts and ideals, in order to instigate waves of growth.

K.D. Richards was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs just outside of Washington, D.C. A writer since a young age, after college K.D. earned a law degree and worked as an attorney and legal instructor for fifteen years but never stopped writing fiction. She currently splits her time between Toronto and Maryland with her husband and two sons.

Ruby Barrett writes steamy romances about big feelings, featuring but not limited to: soft boys, angry girls who are secretly soft, and hot sex. Mutual pleasure, pining, and healing are common themes in her romances. Before she was a romance author, Ruby worked as a groom on a horse farm, a cigarette package warning label researcher for the Canadian Cancer Society, an essayist for a millennial parenting website, and a matchmaker where she was really good at meeting new clients but terrible at creating matches. She is a bi woman who lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of five bestselling novels, most recently her mystery debut, DETECTIVE AUNTY. Her debut novel, AYESHA AT LAST was a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2019. Her second novel, HANA KHAN CARRIES ON (2021) was named Best Romance Novel by the Washington Post. The New York Times described her third novel MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA (2023) as, “in a word, brilliant.” A prolific public speaker, Uzma has participated in book clubs and literary festivals around the world, and appeared on NPR, Good Morning America, and the CBC. She lives in the GTA with her family.

Lavanya Lakshmi has worked in the book publishing industry for thirteen years and is on the board of directors for the Festival of Literary Diversity. Her debut novel, LEAVE AND COME BACK, will be published by Penguin Random House in 2026.

Saleema Nawaz's most recent novel is Songs for the End of the World, which was an instant national bestseller. She is also the author of the novel Bone and Bread (a finalist for Canada Reads and winner of the Quebec Writers' Federation Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction), the short-story collection Mother Superior, and she is a winner of the Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. A former columnist at the Montreal Gazette, Saleema is currently writing a musical and working in a TV writers' room.

David Chariandy is a writer and critic. Author of the novels Soucouyant and Brother, and the epistolary memoir I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You: A Letter To My Daughter, he has won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Toronto Book Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for a body of fiction. His books have been widely discussed and translated into a dozen languages. He is Professor of English at the University of Toronto and a member of the editorial board of Brick: a literary journal.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, a memoir based on her relationship with her father, CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey. The Stone Thrower was adapted into a children’s book in 2016 and was shortlisted for a Canadian picture book award.

Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario, where she founded and serves as the Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was published in January 2021 by HarperCollins Canada.