Jennifer Manuel has won awards for her short fiction, including the Storyteller’s Award at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference in 2013. She has also published short fiction in PRISM International, The Fiddlehead, Room Magazine and Little Fiction. Author Diana Gabaldon describes Manuel’s writing as “astonishing in its intimacy, delicate complexity and sense of compassion.” A long-time activist in Aboriginal issues, Manuel taught elementary and high school in the lands of the Tahltan and Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. The Heaviness of Things that Float is Manuel’s compelling debut novel: a deft exploration of the delicate dynamic between First Nations communities and non-native outsiders. She lives on Vancouver Island, BC.

Anny Scoones was raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, has served as an elected city councillor, and now teaches English in Victoria. She is the author of Home, True Home, Hometown, Home and Away, and Last Dance in Shediac. Anny lives in the neighbourhood of James Bay in Victoria, British Columbia.