CBC Books has announced this year’s list of writers to watch.Here are 22 Canadian writers on the rise in 2025.Rose SutherlandRose Sutherland is the author of A Sweet Sting of Salt. (Random House Canada)Rose Sutherland is a writer from Nova Scotia. She has a background as a pâtissier apprentice in France and is also an occasional bartender. She graduated from theatre school in New York City. How fanfiction and lesbian longing led to Rose Sutherland’s debut novel Her debut novel, A Sweet Sting of Salt, is a historical novel set in the fictional town of Barquer’s Bay, N.S., in the nineteenth century. Jean, the local midwife, lives an isolated simple life in her cottage but all is set awry when she finds a woman in labour by the sea. After Jean helps Muirin deliver her child, the two grow affectionate towards one another. Arley NopraArley Nopra is a Filipino comic creator based in Toronto. (Submitted by Arley Nopra)Arley Nopra is a Filipino comic creator based in Toronto. She has adapted and illustrated the Baby-Sitters Club books Claudia and the Bad Joke and Mallory and the Trouble with Twins. She previously worked as the colorist for the second and third Dragon Prince graphic novels. Nopra says she’s drawn to stories that explore themes of love, resilience and self-discovery. Amid Baby-Sitters Club revival, fans hail influence of Asian-American character Claudia Her latest, Mallory and the Trouble with Twins, follows babysitter Mallory who is confident in her skills after years of caring for her seven younger siblings. But when she starts watching the Arnold twins, Marilyn and Carolyn, she quickly realizes they’re more trouble than she expected. Ruth ChanRuth Chan is the author of Uprooted. (www.ohtruth.com )Ruth Chan is a writer and illustrator of comics and children’s books from Toronto. Her previous children’s books include Thank You, Neighbor!, Caboose by Travis Jonker and Rick the Rock of Room 214 by Julie Falatko. Chan currently lives in New York City. 50 Canadian kids books to read in fall 2024 In her debut graphic memoir Uprooted, Ruth Chan leaves Toronto for Hong Kong with her family after her father gets a new job. Ruth is devastated to leave the city that she loves, and although the rest of her family fit right in once they arrive, Ruth doesn’t. Ruth slowly adapts and sets down roots in Hong Kong with the knowledge that home will be where her heart is. LISTEN | Ruth Chan talks about her graphic memoir Uprooted on The Next Chapter: The Next ChapterUprooted: Ruth Chan reflects on what it was like moving from Toronto to Hong Kong as a teenTeri VlassopoulosTeri Vlassopoulos is a Toronto-based author. (www.terivlassopoulos.com)Teri Vlassopoulos is the author of the short story collection Bats or Swallows, which was nominated for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, and the novel Escape Plans. Her work has been published in Room Magazine, Catapult, The Millions and her regular Substack newsletter, Bibliographic. She lives in Toronto. 10 Canadian books to read for Filipino Heritage Month Her latest, Living Expenses, tells the story of sisters Laura and Claire, the daughters of a single mother who immigrated from the Philippines. Their close bond is put to the test when Claire moves to Silicon Valley for a new job while Laura stays in Toronto and decides to start a family with her husband. While Laura undergoes fertility treatments, Claire has her own run-in with the industry — and the sisters experience a rollercoaster of feelings, both together and apart.LISTEN | Tuesday afternoon book club talks to Teri Vlassopoulos: Here and Now TorontoTuesday afternoon book club talks to Teri VlassopoulosSu ChangThe Immortal Woman is a book by Su Chang. (House of Anansi Press)Su Chang is a Chinese Canadian writer born and raised in Shanghai. She uses a pen name. The Immortal Woman is her debut novel. Her writing has been recognized in numerous contests, including Prairie Fire’s Short Fiction Contest, the Master Review’s Novel Excerpt Contest and the Canadian Authors Association Toronto National Writing Contest, among the others. 3 ‘diverse’ historical fiction novels that transport you to another time In The Immortal Woman, Lemei’s daughter, Lin, struggles with distancing herself from her Chinese heritage while studying in America. At the same time, she is taken aback by her mother’s increasing nationalism toward China — this shift is especially surprising considering her mother had once been a student Red Guard leader who had witnessed the atrocities of the Tiananmen Square protests. Rachel Phan Rachel Phan is the author of Restaurant Kid. (Submitted by Rachel Phan )Rachel Phan is a Toronto-based writer. Her work has been featured in the HuffPost, CBC, the National Post and Maclean’s. She holds a Master of Journalism from the Toronto Metropolitan University. No matter how old I get, I’ll always be a restaurant kid Three decades after her family’s restaurant opened, Rachel Phan’s parents are considering retirement. In Restaurant Kid, Phan reflects on this milestone and shares her experience growing up as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, from living with parents who were building a new life to navigating the challenges of being the only Chinese girl at school. LISTEN | Rachel Phan on The Current: The CurrentWhat it’s like growing up as a ‘restaurant kid’Emma KnightEmma Knight is the author of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus. (Caitlin Cronenberg)Emma Knight is an author, journalist and entrepreneur based in Toronto. Her work has appeared in Literary Hub, Vogue, The Globe and Mail, The Walrus and The New York Times. She co-hosted and created the podcast Fanfare and co-founded the organic beverage company Greenhouse. She is the author of cookbooks How to Eat with One Hand and The Greenhouse Cookbook. The octopus metaphor at the heart of Emma Knight’s novel about motherhood In her latest, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus, Pen arrives at the University of Edinburgh, set on uncovering what her divorced parents in Canada have hid from her. Not only does she start to uncover the truth about them during a weekend visit with a famous writer, an old friend of her father’s, Pen also experiences the many pangs of adulthood for the first time — including falling in love. LISTEN | Emma Knight on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachEmma Knight: ‘Bad’ mothers make good stories — and are more true-to-life Chyana Marie SageChyana Marie Sage is the writer of Soft As Bones. (Anneka Bunnag)Chyana Marie Sage is a Cree, Métis and Salish writer from Edmonton. Her journalism has appeared in the Toronto Star, Huff Post and the New Quarterly. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University where she taught as an adjunct professor. Sage won first place in the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest and silver in the National Magazine Awards for her essay Soar. She teaches Indigenous youth about cultivating self-love and healing through the Connected North program. Chyana Marie Sage crafts a memoir steeped in Indigenous tradition and a strong sense of empathy Sage’s memoir, Soft As Bones, is her quest to better understand the childhood trauma and abuse that scarred her family. It’s also a tapestry of poetry, history, Cree language, traditional ceremony and folklore — and delves into her experiences and those of her family with compassion and strength.LISTEN | Chyana Marie Sage on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachWeaving a story of family trauma and celebrating the beauty in survival Kate GiesKate Gies is a Toronto-based writer and educator. (Will O’Hare)Kate Gies is a Toronto-based writer and educator. She teaches at George Brown College. Her writing has been published in The Malahat Review, The Humber Literary Review, Hobart, Minola Review and The Conium Review. She was also longlisted for the 2018 CBC Nonfiction Prize. It Must Be Beautiful to Be Finished is her first book and her essay Foreign Bodies will be included in the forthcoming Best Canadian Essays anthology. How writing about her medical trauma helped Kate Gies reclaim her body When Kate Gies was born without her right ear, plastic surgeons vowed to make her “whole” and craft the appearance of an outer ear. The Toronto author underwent 14 surgeries before the age of 13, many of which failed, leaving permanent scars — both physically and mentally. Gies shares her harrowing experiences and path to accepting her body through poignant vignettes that form her debut memoir, It Must Be Beautiful to Be Finished.LISTEN | Kate Gies on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachKate Gies: Reclaiming her body after years of medical trauma Liann ZhangLiann Zhang is the author of Julie Chan Is Dead. (Claire Lam)Liann Zhang is a second-generation Chinese Canadian writer who was a former skincare content creator. She holds a psychology and criminology degree from the University of Toronto and splits her time between Vancouver and Toronto. Julie Chan is Dead is Zhang’s debut novel. Liann Zhang’s time as an influencer inspired her twin-swapping, horror-infused novel In Julie Chan is Dead, Julie Chan and her identical twin sister Chloe VanHuusen are polar opposites and barely communicate after being separated at a young age. But when Chloe, a popular influencer, mysteriously dies, Julie steps in to take her place and is thrust into a glamorous world with millions of followers. However, she quickly learns that Chloe’s seemingly flawless life was far from it, and as she uncovers the sinister cause behind her death, it casts Julie as the next target.LISTEN | Liann Zhang on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachNOT CLICKBAIT! She stole her dead twin sister’s identity!? Iryn TushabeIryn Tushabe is a Ugandan Canadian writer and the author of the novel Everything is Fine Here. (Robin Schlaht)Iryn Tushabe is a Ugandan Canadian writer and journalist based in Regina. Her writing has appeared in Briarpatch Magazine, Adda, Grain Magazine, The Walrus and CBC Saskatchewan, among others. She won the City of Regina writing award in both 2020 and 2024, and was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021. In 2023, she won the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Tushabe was longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction Prize in 2016. First Person: Christmas is a painful reminder of the family I left behind when I immigrated to Canada In her debut novel Everything Is Fine Here, a younger sister navigates the challenges of family and societal pressures while offering love and support to her older sister, who is gay, in a country with strict anti-homosexuality laws.LISTEN | Iryn Tushabe on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachFighting for an unlawful love in Uganda Kyle EdwardsKyle Edwards is the writer of Small Ceremonies. (McClelland & Stewart)Kyle Edwards is an award-winning Anishinaabe journalist and writer from the Lake Manitoba First Nation and a member of the Ebb and Flow First Nation. His work has appeared in the BBC News World, CBC, Maclean’s, Native News Online and the Toronto Star. He has won two National Magazine Awards in Canada and was recognized as an Emerging Indigenous Journalist by the Canadian Association of Journalists. He has held the Nieman Visiting Fellowship at Harvard University and the Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. A graduate of Ryerson University, he is currently a Provost Fellow at the University of Southern California, where he is pursuing a PhD in creative writing and literature. Why Anishinaabe writer Kyle Edwards sees hockey as a ceremony Edwards’ debut novel, Small Ceremonies, follows a hockey team of Ojibwe high schoolers from Winnipeg, who are chasing hockey dreams and coming of age in a game — and a place — that can be both beautiful and brutal.LISTEN | Kyle Edwards on Bookends with Mattea Roach: Bookends with Mattea RoachFor Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its own Gabrielle DroletGabrielle Drolet is a Montreal based journalist, essayist and cartoonist. (Gabrielle Drolet)Gabrielle Drolet is a Montreal based journalist, essayist and cartoonist. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Walrus, VICE and Teen Vogue, among others. Her essays on disability have been nominated for a Digital Publishing Award and have won gold at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. She holds an MFA from the University of Guelph. When this Montreal-based author lost the ability to use her hands, grief became her artistic fuel In her debut memoir, Look Ma, No Hands, Drolet reflects on how she discovered new ways to create and express herself after developing a condition in 2021 that left her unable to use her hands. Look Ma, No Hands explores both the challenges and the unexpected humour of navigating chronic, life-altering pain in her twenties.LISTEN | Gabrielle Drolet on Q: Suddenly struck by pain, Gabrielle Drolet learned to write and draw again Sofia AjramSofia Ajram is the writer of Coup De Grâce. (Laurence Philomene)Sofia Ajram is a Montreal-based writer, metalsmith and a Bram Stoker-award-nominated literary horror writer. Ajram specializes in feverish stories of anomalous architecture and gay pining. They are the editor of the forthcoming Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror. Sofia Ajram is a finalist for $20K Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Ajram’s latest novel, Coup De Grâce, is a psychological horror story that follows Vickers, who plans to end his life by throwing himself into the St. Lawrence River in Montreal — his final escape from a lifetime of depression and pain. But after stepping off the subway, he finds himself trapped in an endless, looping station. Soon, he realizes he wasn’t brought there by accident, and he also isn’t alone. Zeina SleimanZeina Sleiman was born in Abu Dhabi and grew up between Montreal, Ottawa and Lebanon, but now lives in Edmonton. (Submitted by Zeina Sleiman)Zeina Sleiman is a Palestinian Canadian writer and educator based in Edmonton. With over a decade of experience in post-secondary education, she has contributed to research focused on creating barrier-free communities. Sleiman, a former mentee in the Writers’ Union of Canada’s BIPOC Connect Program, was awarded the 2024 Silk Road Creative Arts Grant. Sleiman was shortlisted for the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize for her story My Father’s Soil. 5 writers make the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize shortlist In her debut novel Where the Jasmine Blooms, Yasmine returns to Lebanon to escape a messy divorce and reconnect with her cultural roots, having been raised in Toronto. During her visit, she reunites with an old lover and uncovers long-hidden political secrets within her family, all while grappling with the effects of grief, displacement and war.LISTEN | Zeina Sleiman discusses making the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize shortlist: Radio Active2025 CBC Short Story Prize shortlist Matteo L. CerilliMatteo L. Cerilli is the author of Something’s Up with Arlo. (Penguin Random House Canada )Matteo L. Cerilli is a transmasc writer and activist based in Toronto. He is the author of the YA horror novel, Lockjaw. A founding member of the city-wide, student-led organization Students for Queer Liberation in Toronto, he also works with the No Pride in Policing Coalition. Something’s Up with Arlo is his first novel for middle-grade readers. All the Canadian books we’re excited about in the first half of 2025 In Something’s Up with Arlo, 12-year-old Nero’s best friend is a ghost called Arlo. Nero has relied on Arlo to look out for her — especially when the kids at school aren’t being kind to her and her parents don’t seem to notice. But when Nero is moved to a prestigious private school and is given the chance to “start over,” something weird and unsettling happens with Arlo. Nero worries that her best friend is transforming into something scary. Sarah Mughal RanaSarah Mughal Rana is the author of Dawn of the Firebird. (sarahmughalrana.net)Sarah Mughal Rana is a Muslim writer, BookTok personality and co-host of the podcast On The Write Track. She holds an honours bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and is currently studying at Oxford University, focusing on the intersection of economics and policy. Her debut young adult novel was Hope Ablaze. In her forthcoming novel, Dawn of the Firebird, Khamilla Zahr-zad — the daughter of an emperor’s clan — has been raised on violence and vengeance, spending her childhood training to protect her father’s throne. But when her clansmen are assassinated by a rival empire, she infiltrates the enemy’s army to outmaneuver them. As war looms between the two kingdoms, Khamilla is confronted with a history that challenges everything her father taught her.LISTEN | Sarah Mughal Rana on The Next Chapter: The Next ChapterSarah Mughal Rana’s debut novel Hope Ablaze combines poetry and speculative fiction to celebrate Pakistani culture and Islamic faith Amal El-MohtarAmal El-Mohtar is the author of The River Has Roots. (Jim C. Hines)Amal El-Mohtar is a Ottawa-based author, editor and critic. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, NPR Books, among others. El-Mohtar’s short stories Seasons of Glass and Iron won Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. Her novella This Is How You Lose the Time War co-written with Max Gladstone has been translated into over ten languages. How Amal El-Mohtar and her pen pal wrote a book about pen pals on opposite sides of a time war In The River Has Roots, a mysterious family known as the Hawthorns lives in a magical world. The family care for enchanted willows and honour an ancient and mystical compact. But when a daughter of the family decides to seek her own path to find love and happiness, the fate of the entire world just might be at risk. LISTEN | Bridget Raymundo discusses The River Has Roots on The Next Chapter: The Next ChapterWhat we’re reading: Bridget Raymundo gives her staff pick Phillip Dwight MorganPhillip Dwight Morgan is a Toronto-based freelance writer of Jamaican heritage. (Phillip Dwight Morgan)Phillip Dwight Morgan is a first-generation Canadian writer of Jamaican heritage. His work has been published on CBC News and in Maclean’s and The Walrus. Morgan, who lives in Toronto, was one of the winners of this year’s RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards. Emerging writers Dora Prieto, Jess Goldman and Phillip Dwight Morgan win $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards Morgan is currently working on an essay collection about Blackness, nature and memory.Anthony OliveiraAnthony Oliveira is the author of Dayspring. (Mike Meehan )Anthony Oliveira is an author, pop culture critic and podcaster who holds a PhD. He lives in Toronto and has won multiple National Magazine Awards and GLAAD Media Awards. His novel Dayspring won the 2024 Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Dayne Ogilvie Prize. Vincent Anioke, Anthony Oliveira, Éric Chacour shortlisted for $10K 2SLGBTQ+ emerging writers prize Dayspring is a genre-bending reimagining of biblical tales that weaves together stories of passion, grief and destruction that echo through time. The work plays with themes of sexuality and its narrative examines contemporary queer culture’s relationship with faith and religion. Chase JoyntChase Joynt is the author of Vantage Points. (Wynne Neilly)Chase Joynt is a Canadian director and writer. His most recent film, Framing Agnes, won the NEXT Innovator Award and the NEXT Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. His book You Only Live Twice, co-written with Mike Hoolboom, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. 5 Canadian titles make shortlist for $75K Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction In his latest book, Vantage Points, Joynt uncovers a previously unknown connection to Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan after the death of his family’s patriarch, discovered through a box of family documents. Blending memoir and media analysis through a trans lens, Joynt uses McLuhan’s Understanding Media as a framework to explore difficult personal histories and their ties to contemporary politics and ways of being. Valérie BahValérie Bah is the author of Subterrane. (Rafael Alexandre)Valérie Bah is an artist, filmmaker, documentarian, photographer and writer. Their collection The Rage Letters was translated from French by Kama La Mackerel. Their first English language novel, Subterrane, won the Amazon First Novel Award. Valérie Bah wins $60K Amazon First Novel Award for Subterrane In Subterrane, a documentary filmmaker named Zeynab is working on a project about Cipher Falls, the last affordable area on the margins of New Stockholm, a major metropolis and North American city. Cipher Falls is a polluted, industrial wasteland where artists and anti-capitalists are forced to work dead-end jobs to survive. When a construction project threatens Cipher Falls’ gentrification, some residents want to sabotage the plans. Zeynab focuses her documentary on Doudou Laguerre, an activist who mysteriously died — and the potential that his death had something to do with his dissent against the project.
B.C. author among CBC Books 22 writers to watch in 2025
