Jael Richardson’s first novel, Gutter Child was published in January 2021, and is already on the Toronto Star’s bestseller list. Richardson, the founding director of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), is also the author of The Stone Thrower, a memoir about her father, Chuck Ealey, a former CFL quarterback, and a children’s book based on the memoir. She has been a supporter of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for a number of years.

“These days, publishing wants to change and it talks about diverse voices. But I think publishing really only changes when social movements force change.”