OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Library is proud to celebrate Black History Month with a special free author event featuring award‑winning writer André Alexis on Thursday, February 5, at Bayview Yards. The event begins at 7 pm.

Born in Trinidad and raised in Canada, André Alexis is one of the country’s most acclaimed literary voices. He is the author of A Quincunx, the celebrated cycle of five novels that includes Fifteen Dogs—winner of the Giller Prize, CBC Canada Reads, and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize—as well as Days by Moonlight, Pastoral, The Hidden Keys, and Ring. His debut novel, Childhood, won both the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Book Award, and he is a recipient of the prestigious Windham‑Campbell Prize. His most recent work, Other Worlds, was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award.

Alexis will be joined in conversation by Jamaal Amir Akbari, an Ottawa‑based poet, performer, and arts educator whose work is rooted in creativity, community engagement, and storytelling. Together, they will explore themes that shape Alexis’s writing, including imagination, identity, and the ways stories help us understand the world.

As part of the event, The Spaniel’s Tale Bookstore will be onsite with a selection of André Alexis’s books available for purchase. Please note the event is held in English only.