MIKE DEAS is an author/illustrator of graphic novels, including the Sueño Bay Adventures, the Tank & Fizz and the Graphic Guide Adventures series. While he grew up with a love of illustrative storytelling, Capilano College’s commercial animation program helped Mike fine-tune his drawing skills and imagination. Mike and his family live on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

NANCY DEAS grew up on a farm on Mayne Island, British Columbia, where she wandered in forests and on beaches. She has a great love of travel and adventure. Nancy holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Victoria. She now explores Salt Spring Island, where she lives with her family.

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Holly Hogan is a writer and wildlife biologist with a focus on seabirds. During her more than thirty years as a scientist, she has spent about a thousand days at sea conducting avian and marine mammal surveys and providing educational programming with expedition teams. Her work has taken her to the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and every latitude in between. She has been interviewed for CBC Radio, appears in a National Film Board series called Ocean School and provided expertise on seabirds and the impact of marine plastic for the award-winning documentary Hell or Clean Water (2021).

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Valerie Jerome became Canadian senior women’s champion in the sprints and long jump at the age of 15 in 1959 and went on to represent Canada at the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the Pan American Games (where she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metre relay). Jerome’s brother Harry was one of the most recognizable Black Canadian athletes in the 1960s. Away from the track, Jerome has represented the Green Party of British Columbia and is a recipient of the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal and a City of Vancouver Heritage Award for her work in conservation.

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Deidre Havrelock is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, Canada. She was raised in Edmonton, Alberta and is the author of the picture book Buffalo Wild!. She lives in Canada with her family.

Edward Kay is an award-winning writer who loves comedy and science, especially together. His work includes fiction and nonfiction as well as live-action and animated television for both children and adults. He is the author of the Gross Science nonfiction book series for middle grade readers. Edward was a staff writer and producer for Canada’s most popular political satire show, the International Emmy–nominated This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

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Tanya Lloyd Kyi is the author of more than twenty-five books for children and adults, including This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes, Under Pressure, and Mya’s Strategy to Save the World. Tanya lives with her husband and two teenagers in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Amanda West Lewis is the author of seven books for young readers, including These Are Not the Words. Her novel September 17 was nominated for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award and the Violet Downey IODE Award. She is a writer, theater creator, calligrapher and teaching artist. She is the founder of the Ottawa Children’s Theatre, and she has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in New York City, she now lives in Brooke Valley, Ontario, with her husband, writer Tim Wynne-Jones.

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Claire Lordon (she/they) is an American-Canadian illustrator, designer, and author. She earned a BFA in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. She creates children’s books, comics, surface designs, murals, maps, and greeting cards for a number of companies. Her work is inspired by her lifelong spirit for adventure, a love of the outdoors, and an enthusiasm for travel. She enjoys long distance running, hiking, lacrosse, curling, and snowboarding.

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Kirsten Pendreigh is a children’s author and poet from Vancouver, BC. Her books celebrate our early instincts to care for the plants and creatures that share our planet. She is the author of Luna’s Green Pet, illustrated by Carmen Mok. Kirsten’s poems can be found in Canadian literary magazines and in Best Canadian Poetry 2021. Formerly a CBC and NPR journalist, Kirsten also writes non-fiction for children.

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Aden Polydoros is an award-winning author who transitioned from female-to-male when he was 14. After going ‘stealth’ for over 10 years, he came out as transgender in order to support trans youth and vocalize how transitioning saved his life. His YA gothic fantasy novel, The City Beautiful, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award and was a finalist for the Lambda Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Cybils Award, the South Carolina Book Award, and the 2022 World Fantasy Award.

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Richard Scrimger has written more than twenty books for children and adults, many of which have won or been nominated for major awards and been published internationally. He is also a popular presenter in schools. At the Speed of Gus is his latest novel.

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Emily Satoko Seo, a Japanese Canadian chemist turned children’s book author, writes about food, culture, science and nature. Her picture book The Perfect Sushi has been featured in Quill & Quire, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. She contributed to Barefoot Books’ board book series ‘Our World’ by writing Japan, which takes babies and toddlers through a day in Japan. Emily currently lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and two young children.

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Henry Tsang is an artist who explores the spatial politics of history, language, community, food, and cultural translation in relationship to place. His artworks take the form of gallery exhibitions, 360-degree video walking tours, curated dinners, and public art. Henry teaches at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.

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Andrea Warner is the author of the young adult book Rise Up and Sing! – Power, Protest, and Activism in Music. She’s the author of Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography, as well as co-writing and producing the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On. Andrea co-hosts the feminist pop culture podcast Pop This!

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