Sonia Saikaley was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, to a large Lebanese family. The daughter of a shopkeeper, she had access to all the treats she wanted. Her first book, The Lebanese Dishwasher, co-won the 2012 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest. Her first collection of poetry, TURKISH DELIGHT, MONTREAL WINTER, was published in 2012 and a second collection, A SAMURAI'S PINK HOUSE, was published in 2017 by Inanna Publications. She is currently working on a novel called Jasmine Season on Hamra Street. THE ALLSPICE BATH (Inanna Publications, 2019) is her latest book. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, she lives in her hometown of Ottawa. In the past, she worked as an English teacher in Japan.