Wayne Grady is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for adults and young readers. He is also a Governor General’s Award-winning translator, journalist, editor, and creative writing instructor. His debut novel, Emancipation Day, won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

His latest novel, Up From Freedom, tells the story of Virgil, the progressive son of a planation owner, who rescues Annie, a delicate (and pregnant) slave, from his cruel father. Virgil comes to view Annie and her son Lucas as family, but they will never be equal. When Lucas flees after a tragic event, Virgil travels across a country on the brink of civil war searching for him. Author Guy Vanderhaeghe calls it “an arresting novel… that wisely, compassionately, and movingly brings to vivid life a cast of characters, black and white, struggling in the snares of slavery and racism. It is a rare achievement, a novel that is both timely and timeless, a book that locates conscience and hope at the very centre of human existence.”

Wayne lives in Kingston, Ontario, with his wife, novelist Merilyn Simonds.

Appearing in: Invisible Wounds: Fiction, Run to Freedom: Historical Fiction

Website: www.waynegrady.ca
Book: www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/252971/freedom