Brampton has a thriving literature scene from festivals like The Fold to book shops like Knowledge Bookstore and Brampton Books.

The thriving scene supports many from accomplished, prolific authors to eager amateurs, just getting started. Of the many writers who have chosen to live and work there, here are the top five, as rated by Brampton Library, according to book usage.

Jael Richardson (906 circulations): Richardson is perhaps best known for her first book, a memoir of the relationship between her and her dad, the former CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey, called "The Stone Thrower." To discover who her father was, the book begins in Portsmouth, Ohio, where her father first learned to throw by chucking stones at incoming trains.

Despite his prodigious talent, Ealey was never allowed to play as a quarterback in the NFL because of racial discrimination, and instead joined the Canadian Football League, where he won a Grey Cup.

Since the publication of The Stone Thrower, Richardson has published a children’s edition of "The Stone Thrower," written a novel, "Gutter Child" and the children’s book, "Because You Are." 

Lynne Golding (591 circulations): A corporate lawyer by day, Golding is the author of the "Beneath the Alders" series. Spanning 1907 to 1932, the trilogy follows the story of Jessie Stephens and her family. The series begins with "The Innocent," followed by "The Beleaguered," then "The Mending."

Sadé Smith (128 circulations): Smith is the Jamaican-Canadian author of two children’s books, "Granny’s Kitchen" and "Julie and the Mango Tree." 

Patrick Njoku (88 circulations): After retiring from a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, Njoku began writing about the rich lgbo culture of pre-Civil War Nigeria, influences from his childhood. "My Mother’s Wife," first published in September 2022, is the first in a planned trilogy. 

Susan Currie (58 circulations): As an adoptee, Currie found out about her Indigenous roots later in life. Her family is Cayuga, and her grandmother, Marjorie Hill, grew up at Six Nations and attended Mohawk Institute Residential School, otherwise known as “mush hole.”

Those influences foreground "The Mask That Sang," a YA novel. Currie is also the author of "Basket of Beethoven." Her latest, "Iz the Apocalypse" will be published on Sept. 1 by Common Deer Press.