Our 2024 Interviewers
Bianca Marais
Bianca Marais is the author of the bestselling The Witches of Moonshyne Manor, as well as the beloved Hum If You Don’t Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh, and the Audible Original, The Prynne Viper.
She taught at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies where she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing in 2021.
She is the co-host of the popular podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, which is aimed at helping emerging writers become published.
Bianca will be interviewing Matt Haig on September 9, 2024. View full event details here.
Daryl Sneath
Daryl Sneath is an author and high school English and Philosophy teacher from rural Ontario. He is the author of three novels, In the Country in the Dark, As the Current Pulls the Fallen Under, and All My Sins. Daryl holds an MA in Literature & Creative Writing from The University of Windsor. His poetry and fiction have been published in journals including The Antigonish Review, Prism international, Wascana Review, Nashwaak Review, paperplates, Zouch Magazine, Quilliad, FreeFall, Filling Station, The Dalhousie Review, and The Literary Review of Canada. One of his short stories was longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize.
Daryl will be interviewing Heather O’Neill on October 2, 2024. View full event details here.
Kate Hilton
Kate Hilton is the bestselling author of four novels: Bury The Lead (with Elizabeth Renzetti), The Hole In The Middle, Just Like Family and Better Luck Next Time.
She is also an experienced media contributor on topics ranging from working motherhood to creativity to reinvention and personal transformation. Her written work has appeared in various national publications including The National Post, Canadian Living, and The Huffington Post. She has been interviewed on Breakfast Television, CBC Early Edition, Global Morning, CTV Morning, and other local and regional shows.
When not writing fiction, Kate works with psychotherapy and life coaching clients in the area of transformational change. No stranger to reinvention herself, Kate has had prior careers in law, university administration, publishing, and major gift fundraising. To learn more about her practice, visit www.katehiltontherapy.com.
Kate is currently writing the second Quill & Packet mystery with her friend Liz, as well as a sole-authored dual-timeline historical mystery, both expected to be published in 2025. She lives in a blended family – including a husband, two sons, a stepdaughter, and a rescue dog – in Toronto.
Kate will be interviewing Lisa Moore and Elizabeth Renzetti on October 2, 2024. View full event details here.
Nita Prose
Nita Prose is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery Guest and The Maid, which has sold over one million copies worldwide and was published in more than forty countries. A Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Figerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery. The Maid was also an Edgar Award finalist for Best Novel. Nita lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.
Nita will be interviewing Jeanne Beker on October 7, 2024. View full event details here.
Tina Srebotnjak
Tina Srebotnjak spent most of her career at the CBC. She worked as a producer in both radio and television, and was the co-host of Midday on CBC TV. At TVO, she hosted the literary show, Imprint.
Most recently, she was head of programming at the Toronto Public Library, where she launched the library’s premier literary and cultural series in the Appel Salon. She now just lies on the couch and reads.
Tina will be interviewing Carol Off and Marc Garneau on October 9, 2024. View full event details here.
Wendy O’Brien
Wendy O’Brien is a philosopher with an avid interest in the ways philosophy, literature and the visual arts overlap. After over 30 years in academe teaching and lecturing at Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, Harvard and Oxford, she recently retired to be able to explore these points of intersection in non-academic settings. Her work explores subjects including power, violence, the relation to the Other, home, silence and creativity. She is presently working on a long-term project on the concept of wonder. An active member of the Ontario literary scene, she has been an interviewer for organizations including By the Lake Book Club, the Toronto International Festival of Authors and GritLit, as well as hosting Bourbon and Books book club in both Toronto and Hamilton.
Wendy will be interviewing Jane Urquhart on October 15, 2024. View full event details here.
Terry Fallis
Terry Fallis grew up in Toronto and earned an engineering degree from McMaster University. Drawn to politics at an early age, he worked for cabinet ministers in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park. His first novel, The Best Laid Plans, began as a podcast, then was self-published, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, was re-published by McClelland & Stewart to great reviews, was crowned the 2011 winner of CBC’s Canada Reads as “the essential Canadian novel of the decade,” and was adapted as a CBC Television series and a stage musical. His next two novels, The High Road and Up and Down were finalists for the Leacock Medal, and in 2015, he won the prize a second time, for his fourth book, No Relation. His other novels include Poles Apart, One Brother Shy, Albatross, and Operation Angus, and were all national bestsellers. A skilled public speaker, he lives in Toronto with his wife, and blogs at www.terryfallis.com
Terry will be interviewing Rod Carley and hosting a comedy writing workshop alongside Rod on October 27, 2024. View full event details here and browse the comedy workshop here.
Brianne Sommerville
Brianne Sommerville is a Canadian author who writes female-driven thrillers. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Crime Writers of Canada. Brianne studied English literature and theatre before entering the world of public relations and marketing. She lives in King with her partner and three littles under six, and knows every episode of Peppa Pig by heart. If I Lose Her is her debut novel and she is currently writing her sophomore novel, which will hit shelves in 2025.
Brianne will be interviewing Marissa Stapley on October 30, 2024. View full event details here.
Jeanne Beker
Jeanne Beker was the host of the hit show Fashion Television, which aired in over 130 countries for twenty-seven years and was one of the most successful shows in Canadian TV history. Prior to that, she hosted the groundbreaking show The NewMusic and was a founding member of MuchMusic. A seasoned newspaper and magazine columnist, Jeanne was editor-in-chief of FQ and SIR magazines from 2003 to 2009. Currently, she is a frequent keynote speaker and style editor for TSC, where she hosts her eponymous show Style Matters. Jeanne has received honorary doctorates from St. Mary’s University and OCAD University. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2013, inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Hall of Legends in 2015, and received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2016. Jeanne lives in Toronto, Canada.
Jeanne will be interviewing Nita Prose on November 3, 2024. View full event details here.
Jane Philpott
Dr Jane Philpott (former MP Markham-Stouffville, former Minister of Indigenous Services, and former Minister of Health) is our esteemed interviewer. Jane’s new book, Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada will also be available.
Jane will be interviewing Jody Wilson-Raybould on November 4, 2024. View full event details here.