Local Authors Showcase

My African Teacher 

Never Left: A Journey of Love, Support and Becoming 

I am Me; I am One

Ablavi L. de Souza is an author of children's books. Outside her work of authorship, Ms. De Souza is an educator and the founder of the non-profit organization AfriCanada Hub. She seeks creative ways to bridge educational gaps between children from marginalized communities and their counterparts. Her work in the community has been characterized by an adept love of reading children's books with children and to children. Outside her professional life, Ms. de Souza loves to pray, watch movies, drink tea, and try out new recipes.

Awaking Aurora

Smiling Through The Cracks 

Ade Oluokun, a content creator and writer based in Brampton, has been on a creative journey since her high school years. Immersing herself in various forms of expression, she delves into the written word and captivating visuals. Ade's passion for storytelling drives her writing, blending it with her photography and creativity. Specializing in Black & Multicultural novels, she weaves diverse narratives into her work. Through her combination of inspiration and artistry, she produces compelling content that connects with her audience.

You were Soil and Soil was You

Aditi Ganeev Sangwan is a Brampton-based Creative. She is a visual artist and educator who works with diverse mediums like Painting, printmaking, artist books, installations, poetry Videos and Cyanotypes. Aditi is also co-founder of Art Studio Izza, which focuses on Photography, ecologically sustainable art and community engagement practices. Born and Brought up in India, Aditi holds a PhD in visual arts from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan.

Rainbows in the Night: Poems

Alene is an award-winning author and poet. Her work has been published internationally in print, e-books, and online, appearing in Toronto Star, Today’s Parent, City Parent, anthologies, and journals. She advocates for literacy and community relations, including penning "Programs Without Walls: Stories from Toronto Parents," a non-profit book, shedding light on the crucial role community programs play in early childhood development. When Alene is not writing, she travels the world taking photos of random things, treks off the beaten path, and seeks moments to be still.

Escape Perennial City - Samsara Edition

Ultraviolet - The "Fluke!" Series

Battle Colosseum - The "Fluke!" series

Allen W. McLean is an author of speculative fiction, poetry and reviews. He was born and raised in the Canadian suburbs of Brampton Ontario, and identifies as non-binary. His wife April produces music and art as Electric Armchair; at her behest, Allen began sharing poetry on his book reviews and releases for the HaikuPrajna Collection, a library of his study notes for readers who will never consume the stories just as much as they are for those who have or want to. Obsessed with forming stories since playing pretend as a child, his fiction today focuses on transcending one’s hindrances, with ideas from metaphysics, theology, yoga, mindfulness, and meditation; and is inspired by sci-fi, comics and manga. Allen has released over a dozen books, and his Bite-sized Insights have been collected online, in print and in public libraries around the Toronto area.

The Tiger Prince

Alyssa Ross is the author of “The Power of the Moon and Sun” ,“Written in the Stars: Omari's Story”, “The Tides”, and the author and illustrator of “The Tiger Prince”. She has an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design and lives in Brampton with her family. When she's not writing, she loves making art in a variety of mediums.

Can We Talk About It? Poetry and Art

Amy Liou is a Taiwanese-Canadian author in Mississauga, Ontario. She relishes cafe-hopping, searches far and wide for those who will break her heart, and writes feverishly about her roads to recovery. She studied Environment, Resources and Sustainability and International Development at the University of Waterloo before deciding to pursue a teaching degree at Ontario Tech University. Amy has been a passionate writer since her middle school days. When she is not writing, she is a high school English teacher and has her hands full of books to teach and essays to mark. Forever a hopeless romantic, Amy may have lost count of the number of crushes she has had, but these fleeting moments of desire will always live on in her writing.

Ways of Hearts

Andy Afrouz has a PhD from Britain, a post-MS and MS from the USA, and a BS from Britain.  He was a past member of the US, Britain, Australia, and some other International Association of Mining Engineers, including a Professional Engineer of Ontario, Canada and Australia.  Andy's professional experiences were in all levels of Mining Engineering, including 3 years of hands-on Mine Management Training in Britain.  His experiences were in the USA, Britain, Canada, France, Iran, Namibia and Zambia.  Andy has 42 publications worldwide (37 Technical, 4 Novels, and a co-authored children’s book).

How to Photocopy Your Butt without Cracking the Glass

If you’re looking for children’s books that address emotional wellness, Anjula has a background as a Children’s Therapist, and brings that experience to her writing. Anjula created “The Super-Hero Survival Guide” for reluctant young readers several years ago, while recovering from a brain injury. During her rehabilitation, she began developing educational resources and writing novels. She is currently finishing her MA in Creative & Critical Writing. Anjula has a dozen children’s books on Amazon and in some bookstores (Chapters/Indigo, Barnes & Noble). She has written five novels for YA and Adults. Three are available in print. Her book this year, "How to Photocopy Your Butt without Cracking the Glass", is a lighthearted book about office humour.

Adventure in Alphabet Land

Fun Affirmations

Ann Martino, the author behind the children's books Adventure in Alphabet Land Series and Fun Affirmations is a highly trained educator with a twenty-plus year career in International education. Ann is a Peel District School Board teacher whose current assignment is teaching Kindergarten. As a lifelong learner, her classroom methods have evolved to create new learning experiences for her students. When not writing or moulding young minds in the classroom, Ann enjoys curling up with a good book, travelling, face timing her grandkids and visiting her adult children in various cities. Ann lives with her husband in Ontario Canada.

What We Do Not Know

Starlight Tapestry

Drifting(Piao) Chinese Poetry and Prose by Anna Yin 漂——星子安娜诗路心语

Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-17) and has authored six poetry collections and three books of translations including Mirrors and Windows (Guernica Editions 2021). Anna won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTYs, two scholarships from the USA and grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. Her poems/translations have appeared in Queen’s Quarterly, ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, Literary Review of Canada etc. She read on Parliament Hill, at the Austin International Poetry Festival, the Edmonton Poetry Festival and at universities in China, Canada USA etc. She has designed and taught Poetry Alive since 2011.

Fright Folk

April Salisbury-White is an artist, musician, poet, and animator living in Ontario, Canada with her husband author Allen W McLean and their cat Joe Bean. As an artist, she creates whimsical album covers, digital sci-fi worlds, detailed inked scenes, abstract painted book covers, and more. As a musician, April builds narrative soundscapes using her vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums, ukulele, and live-looping samples. As an animator, she uses both digital and traditional media to create music videos. April’s art, music, and poetry have been featured in various publications and podcasts. She has released 9 music albums as ‘Electric Armchair.’ April and Allen run a small business called APRIL and ALLEN’s ABCs (Artworks, Book merch, and Clay quirks.)

The World According To Ai (It's Not What You Think)

Arno became aware of the mistreatment of African descendants. In class, he heard many European immigrants being made fun of. He felt that once he lost his accent, he would blend in with the rest of the white Canadians, much like many European friends. He knew he could fit in because of his skin colour. But what of all those of colour and the indigenous communities? Unfortunately, they will be marginalized until we grow as a nation and start questioning the validity of other people’s assertions. This caused Arno to be mindful of those less fortunate. Eventually, he wrote The World According to AI

Sibylla, One Story at a Time

Born in Toronto and the daughter of the principal character Sibylla Janssen-Peters, Astrid Peters is a first-time book author. She is a retired French and music high school teacher who received three degrees at the University of Toronto. Out of her many interests, historical genealogy evolved and took precedence during her retirement in Brampton, Ontario. She lives with her husband, Harry Churchill-Smith, and her pet dog, Jana.

Grandfather's Mulberry Tree

Baljit Ghuman is a Canadian author and speaker. His writing which explores themes of healing, inspiration, leadership, and social justice acts as a means of reclaiming identity and defining individuality. Baljit strongly believes in "inspiring through literature". Baljit's latest short novel Grandfather's Mulberry Tree published on Amazon. Born in Punjab, he arrived in Canada during his mid-teen years. Baljit has dedicated the last two decades to playing key roles in creating awareness around the issues faced by communities with a focus on disability and minority rights. He achieved this through community activism. He has prepared and presented policy-level presentations to various government ministries, tribunals, provincial committees, and regional police force committees. Baljit is an Autism and neurodiversity advocate.  He is the founder of Sikhs for Autism.

Journey Back To You

The ABC's of Affirmations: Empowering Affirmations for Children

I Love You More Than Strawberries: The Love Found in Chosen Families

Cameile Henry, MA, is the Program Coordinator and a Professor of Early Childhood Education (ECE) at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Brampton, ON. As an ECE professor, she has facilitated numerous learning opportunities to enrich the lives of children from infancy to 12 years of age. She is a registered facilitator for Circle of Security, an international program that supports primary care providers with the tools to enhance building strong attachments with children. She also serves as an educational consultant for the CBC animation series ‘Jeremy and Jazzy’.