Sharon Bala's debut novel, The Boat People, was published by McClelland & Stewart and Doubleday US in January, 2018. The manuscript won the Percy Janes First Novel Award (May 2015) and was short listed for the Fresh Fish Award (October 2015).

Sharon is a member of the Port Authority writing group. They can be found every second Tuesday swapping fiction in the closet of a store room on Memorial University's campus. Born in Dubai, Sharon now lives in St. John's, Newfoundland with her husband, the mathematician Tom Baird. Full bio on SharonBala.com.