2025 Festival Programming

DAVID A. ROBERTSON is the author of numerous books for young readers including Governor General’s Literary Award winners On the Trapline and When We Were Alone. The Barren Grounds, Book 1 of The Misewa Saga series, was a Kirkus, NPR, and Quill & Quire best middle-grade book of 2020, as well as a USBBY and Texas Lone Star selection. Winner of the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Freedom to Read Award, as well as the 2021 Globe and Mail Children’s Storyteller of the Year recipient, Dave is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and currently lives in Winnipeg, Canada.

Emily A. Weedon is the CSA award–winning screenwriter of Chateau Laurier and Red Ketchup, and the author of the epic dystopia Autokrator. She played Lucy in two separate productions of Dracula, and growing up probably checked out Dracula and other vampire books more than anyone else in the Coe Hill library, so it was inevitable that she would write a novel about vampires. Hemo Sapiens is her second novel. She lives in Toronto.

Jessica Popeski is a dis/abled opera singer, professor, and intersectional ecofeminist poet. Named one of Tkaronto’s “exceptional up and coming writers” by Open Book, she authored “Oratorio” and “The Wrong Place” with Anstruther Press. “the problem with having a body” was published with Gordon Hill Press, and “grenoside” is forthcoming in Fall 2026. She was raised in Moscow, Russia, and Sheffield, England, by her mother and grandmother, and lives with her pitbull-poodle on land which is covered by Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties, the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.

Matthew J. Trafford earned his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He has twice been a finalist for the CBC Literary Prize, and received an Honour of Distinction Dayne Ogilvie Award from the Writers’ Trust of Canada. Douglas & McIntyre published his first collection of stories, The Divinity Gene, which Publishers Weekly described as “shot-through with moments of genuine pathos and even brilliance.” Trafford continues to publish stories as well as writing for the screen. He is an avid fibre artist in his alternate persona of Fairy Godfather Knits.

Rachel Phan is a Chinese Canadian author born and raised in a small town in Southern Ontario, where she was one of only two racialized people in her class. Growing up, Rachel always felt a little lost and a lot lonely. She sought escapism from her life by writing the stories she desperately wanted to see, ones where a Chinese-Vietnamese girl like her was the main character. It was no surprise, then, when she got two journalism degrees and became a professional writer. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master of Journalism program, she’s shared her stories on CBC, HuffPost, the National Post and Maclean’s. Rachel’s work often explores the impacts of racism, assimilation, fetishization, and forced displacement on one’s feelings of identity, belonging, and self-worth. Her debut book, Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging, published in 2025 by Douglas & McIntyre. Restaurant Kid has been a best-seller, and a conversation point for media and readers across Canada.Rachel now lives in Toronto with her partner and their genius dog.

WANDA TAYLOR is the author of fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults. She  is also a screenwriter, a journalist and a college professor. Her articles have appeared in  numerous publications including Quill & Quire and the Globe and Mail. Taylor’s middle  grade non-fiction book Birchtown and the Black Loyalists was listed as one of the top Black  history books for young readers by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Her recent novel  The Grover School Pledge won the Northern Lights Middle Grade Book of the Year Award in 2023.

Wayne Ng was born in downtown Toronto, on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people, to Chinese immigrant parents who fuelled his imagination with a steady diet of bitter melon and kung fu movies.His most recent novel, Johnny Delivers, joins a growing list of accomplishments, including The Family Code (shortlisted for the Guernica Prize in 2021 and the Ottawa Book Award in 2024) and Letters From Johnny (winner of the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Best Novella Award and a finalist for the 2022 Ottawa Book Award). He is currently working on a speculative novel.Wayne lives in Ottawa with his wife and their goldfish, always searching for new ways to nourish both body and soul. Connect with him at WayneNgWrites.com.

Zehra Allibhai is a health & wellness expert with a background in kinesiology and fitness. With over 20 years of experience in the fitness industry her passion is helping women feel strong and confident in their own skin. Along with her passion for fitness, Zehra understands the importance of flavorful & healthy food to nourish the body and soul. She loves sharing quick & easy to follow recipes and workouts with her community around the world across her different social media platforms. She lives just outside of Toronto with her husband and two kids.

A. GREGORY (GREG) FRANKSON is a Toronto-based educator, consultant, public speaker, and award-winning literary artist. He edited and contributed to the critically acclaimed AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets, appears in six anthologies, and published four poetry collections. He was previously the poet laureate of the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership and resident poet on CBC Radio One’s Here and Now Toronto. His writings have appeared in numerous literary, digital, and journalistic publications. Greg’s debut full-length work of creative nonfiction, Alphabet Soup: A Memoir in Letters, was released by Dundurn Press in January 2025.

Adnan Khan is a screenwriter, novelist, and journalist. He has won a National Magazine Award and the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer prize, and his debut novel, There Has to Be a Knife, was named a best Canadian novel of 2019 by the CBC. His debut feature film, Shook, made its premier at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

Katie Underwood is an award-winning journalist and the current managing editor at Maclean’s magazine. Previously, she held editorial positions at Chatelaine and The Grid, and her byline has appeared in such fine publications as The Walrus, Toronto Life, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. She just got into audiobooks.

MATTEO L. CERILLI is a transmasc author and an activist. He helped found Students for Queer Liberation (Toronto) and works with the No Pride in Policing Coalition. Cerilli writes widely across genres and age categories. Lockjaw is his debut book. Something’s Up with Arlo is his first novel for middle-grade readers.

Damian Tarnopolsky is the author of Lanzmann and Other Stories, Goya’s Dog, and The Defence. His work has been nominated for many awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, and the Journey Prize, and he won the Voaden Prize for Playwriting in 2019. He teaches at the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab at the University of Toronto.

Elizabeth Ruth is the author of the novels, Semi-Detached, Matadora, Smoke, and Ten Good Seconds of Silence. Her work has been recognized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and One Book One Community. Ruth is also the editor of the anthology, Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales. She holds a BA in English Literature, an MA in Counselling Psychology, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Elizabeth Ruth teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto. This Report Is Strictly Confidential is her debut poetry collection.

Ronna Bloom is a Toronto-based poet and educator and the author of seven books of poetry. Her work has been broad- cast on CBC, recorded by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, translated into Bangla and Chinese, and appeared three times in Best Canadian Poetry. Ronna is also someone who puts poetry to work in the world; she has led initiatives to bring poetry into health care settings, specifically developing the first Poet-in-Residence program at Mount Sinai Hospital/ Sinai Health.

Kristen Ciccarelli is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Crimson Moth duology, A Dark Forgetting, and the Iskari series. Her books have been translated into over 20 languages. Before writing stories for a living, Kristen dropped out of college and worked as a baker, a potter, and a bookseller. She currently resides in the Niagara region of Ontario with her husband and daughter.

Lily Chu loves ordering the second-cheapest wine, wearing perfume all the time, and staying up far too late with a good book. Four of her books have been released as Audible Originals, performed by Phillipa Soo. Lily’s best-selling stories have spent multiple weeks at number one in Audible Top Plus Listens, and have been named in Best of the Year lists. Her books have been recommended in the New York Times, and her rom-com debut, The Stand-In, was named Target’s Book Club Pick for May as well as an Amazon Book of the Month and Apple Best Books of May.

Maureen Halushak is the editor-in-chief of Chatelaine. Outside of work she’s an avid runner, writer, reader and dog walker.

Rebecca Fisseha is an Ethiopian-Canadian writer based in Toronto. She is the author of the novel Daughters of Silence, as well as short stories, creative non-fiction, and personal essays that appear in various publications, including the anthology Addis Ababa Noir and Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language. Rebecca is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers, the Vancouver Film School, and an alumnus of the TIFF Writers’ Studio.