Antonio Michael Downing

Antonio Michael Downing is a Trinidad-born, Canada-based writer, musician, and creative force.

Named one of Canada’s best emerging authors by the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize, his acclaimed memoir Saga Boy was called “the triumph of Blackness everywhere” by Giller Prize winner Ian Williams. The book was nominated for both the Toronto Book Award and the Speaker’s Book Award in 2021.

His debut novel Black Cherokee will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2025.

Antonio also performs and records music as John Orpheus, blending Afro-Caribbean rhythms, soul, and storytelling into genre-bending sound.

Whether he’s writing books, making music, or honouring the legacy of his grandmother, Antonio is always telling stories that search for identity, belonging, and joy.