In-Person Conference Tolu Oloruntoba has been a physician, editor, and project manager, and has lived in three countries. His literary work combines existential analysis with historical and contemporary critique. His debut collection of poetry, The Junta of Happenstance, won the Governor GeneralR
In-Person Conference Billeh Nickerson is a Vancouver-based author, editor and educator whose six books include McPoems (Arsenal Pulp), the City of Vancouver-Book-Award-Nominated Artificial Cherry (Arsenal Pulp) and his most recent collection, Duct-Taped Roses (Book*hug). He is also a former Editor o
In-Person Conference Sonya Lalli is the acclaimed author of five romance and women’s fiction novels, most recently A Holly Jolly Diwali and Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat. Her books have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR, The Washington Post, Glamour and more. Sonya’s debut p
In-Person Conference Chris (C.C.) Humphreys – born in Toronto, raised in London – has played Hamlet in Calgary, a gladiator in Tunisia, waltzed in London’s West End, conned the landlord of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, patrolled the Sun Hill beat in The Bill, commanded a star
In-Person Conference Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author and interfaith activist. She writes the popular children’s early reader series “Yasmin” and other books for children, including chapter books, graphic novels, and picture books. Her middle grade novels include A Place At The Tab
In-Person Conference Monika Davies is a freelance author of 50+ books for young readers and loves helping beginner (and seasoned!) writers get inspired and meet their writing goals. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BFA in creative writing and is certified to lead workshop
In-Person Conference Aaron Philip Clark is a native of Los Angeles, CA. He is a novelist, screenwriter, and former Los Angeles Police Department recruit. He’s the author of the International Thriller Award-nominated Det. Trevor Finnegan series and the winner of the 2021 Book Pipeline Adaptation Aw
In-Person Conference Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels and almost one hundred stories have been transla
In-Person Conference Ace Baker is a writer, poet, and writing coach from Vancouver, Canada. His short story, “Victory Girl,” won the Storyteller Award, and his poetry has won the SIWC, PNWA, and Magpie awards, among others. Both his prose and poetry have been nominated for the Pushcart P
In-Person Conference Sarah N. Fisk is a literary agent at the Tobias Literary Agency, representing all genres in Middle Grade and Young Adult as well as adult science-fiction, fantasy, and romance. Sarah is a former mechanical engineer who made the switch to publishing in 2011. They have worked in t
Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower, a book columnist on CBC’s q and the founder and Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in Brampton, Ontario. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, is a dystopian tale of courage and resilience and was an instant bestseller when
Barbadian novelist and research consultant Dr Karen Lord is the author of Redemption in Indigo, winner of the 2008 Frank Collymore Literary Award, the 2011 William L. Crawford Award, and the 2011 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Her other works include the science fiction duology The B
Virtual only Erin Roberts is a writer of speculative fiction across formats: her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 4, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2019, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, The Dar
Looking for feel-good reads? Look no further. Laura Bradbury’s bestselling books have been described as “the lovechild of Peter Mayle’s A YEAR IN PROVENCE and Cheryl Strayed’s WILD.” The beloved and bestselling Grape Series now includes seven books with more to come. La
Sonali Dev’s first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, and sta
Rachael Herron is the bestselling author of the novels The Ones Who Matter Most (named a 2016 Editor’s Pick by Library Journal), Splinters of Light and Pack Up the Moon (all from Penguin), the Darling Bay and the Cypress Hollow series, and the memoir, A Life in Stitches (Chronicle). She received h
Authors have always been Naomi Davis’s superheroes. Growing up in Minnesota, she spent her elementary years pretending she was every character in every book she read. Now a mother, gardener, and beekeeper, Naomi loves meeting readers everywhere she goes and finding out what makes them love the
Crystal Hunt is a writer, podcaster, creative mastermind, health psychologist, productivity geek, and strategic authorpreneur who has written 40+ books in various genres including several titles in the Creative Academy Guides for Writers series. As CJ Hunt she writes kissing books set in the small f
Renée Sarojini Saklikar is the author of four award winning books, including children of air india, and Listening to the Bees. She was the first poet laureate for the City of Surrey (2015-2018). Renée’s newest book is Bramah and The Beggar Boy, an epic fantasy in verse, (Nightwood Editions, 202
JJ is the non-fiction mentor at Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio. His book, The Measure of a Man: The Story of A Father, A Son, and A Suit, was a finalist for a Governor-General’s literary award, the Charles Taylor Prize, the Hubert Evans Prize at the BC Book Prizes, and t