Queer Indie Authors at Toronto Pride

I was part of this lovely rogues gallery of writers from last night's pre-Toronto Pride Queer Indie Authors  reading at Super Bargain Cocktail Bar. Check out the wallpaper that Oscar Wilde would have snarked about.

Photo: Antonio Robledo. Thanks, Antonio!

Front row: JM Freeman.
Second row: Host/organizer Dorianne Emmerton, Antonio Robledo, AJ Dolman.
Back row: Our pal Christian Baines, and yours truly.

Everyone but Dorianne will be at our Toronto Pride booth all weekend. 

We're a delight! Come say hello and chat. Mebbe bring coffee or water?

On Church between Gerrard and McGill. Nearest subway station: College.

Friday, 7:00pm to 11:00pm.
Saturday, Sunday: Noon to 11:00pm.

J. Marshall Freeman is a writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two queer-hero young adult novels, The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood and Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City. His latest book is the short story collection, To Wrap Yourself in Light, which includes two award-winning stories from the Saints+Sinners Fiction Contest. A poet, he has featured at many Toronto poetry nights and m released two poetry chapbooks. Jonathan is currently writing a middle-grade science fiction novel about evil trillionaires and brave dogs. He lives in Toronto with his husband and brave dog.

Dorianne Emmerton writes queer speculative fiction. She curates the Brockton Writers Series, and helps run the Bi+ Arts Festival. She grew up in small town Northern Ontario amidst rock outcrops, jack pines, and pigeon-sized mosquitoes but now calls Toronto home. Her stories have been published in places including Luna Station Quarterly, Eavesdrop Magazine, Room Magazine, The Audient Void, The Fantasist, Daily Science Fiction, and in the anthologies Nevertheless (Tesseracts Twenty-One) and Ink Stains Volume Seven: Decay.

Antonio Robledo, aka A. Renegade, is a mental health and addiction professional, with a background in social work whose significant contributions to Canada were recognized with the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal in 2025. Mexican by birth and Canadian by choice, he divides his time between supporting others through therapy and practicing his passion for rock climbing. Robleo’s Love (Man to Man), is a bilingual collection of poems exploring love that defies convention and the deeply personal journey of one man’s love for another. 

AJ Dolman’s (they/she) debut poetry collection is Crazy / Mad (Gordon Hill Press, 2024). They previously authored Lost Enough: A collection of short stories (MRP, 2017), and three poetry chapbooks, and co-edited Motherhood in Precarious Times (Demeter Press, 2018). Dolman’s poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. A bi/pan+ rights advocate and founder of Bi+ Canada, they live on unceded, unsurrendered Anishinaabe Algonquin territory.

Christian Baines Raised on dark humour and motivated by horror movies and New Zealand wine, Christian Baines is the author of eight novels including gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust, Puppet Boy, Skin, and My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living and writing in Toronto, Canada between trips

James K. Moran is a writer of many bi lines with speculative fiction and poetry appearing in Burly Tales: Finally Fairy Tales for the Hirsute and Hefty Gay Man, Bywords, Glitterwolf, On Spec, and elsewhere. Moran’s collection Fear Itself and small-town Canada horror novel Town & Train were published by Lethe Press. For over 15 years, he freelanced for Xtra Magazine (née Capital Xtra!). Moran agonizes—or, rather, writes—across the genres about grief, love, nomadic superheroes and drag-queen warlocks. His reviews appear in Arc Poetry Magazine, Plenitude: your queer literary magazine and Strange Horizons. Findable at jamestheballadeer.bsky.social and jamestheballadeer on Instagram. Moran lives in Ottawa.