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Close-up headshot of Laurie Petrou smiling. She has straight dark brown hair and is wearing a black long-sleeve turtleneck.

Dr. Laurie Petrou

Associate Professor
EducationPhD Communication and Culture (York and TMU); Master's Communication and Culture (York and TMU); New Media Design (Sheridan College); Bachelor of Fine Arts - Painting (Queen's)
https://www.lauriepetrou.com/; https://www.instagram.com/lauriepetrou/

Biography

Dr. Laurie Petrou is an award-winning and internationally-published author. She has written books in a range of formats and genres, but her main focus is contemporary adult novels with complicated female characters. Her books have appeared on several notable book lists including CBC Books, The Toronto Star, Refinery 29, Cosmopolitan, the Top 100 Books of the Year in the Globe and Mail (twice), a coveted Starred Kirkus review, and Gold Standard Selection of the Junior Library Guild, and as the inaugural winner of the Half the World Global Literati Award. She began her career as a painter, then as a digital artist, and when she's not writing, can be found teaching and mentoring writers and creators in a number of classes in RTA.

  • Fiction
  • Creative Writing
  • Commercial and literary fiction and storytelling that involves rich and sometimes unlikeable female main characters, complicated relationships, the grey area of 'women behaving badly' in storytelling
  • Themes of interest: choice, authorship, existentialism, midlife

Writing Career & Recognition

  • Debut: Between (2006), a short-story collection that made The Globe and Mail Top 100 and was among the top 5 debut fiction titles
  • Breakthrough: Sister of Mine (2018) was the inaugural winner of the Half the World Global Literati Award (2016) and has been published internationally.
  • YA Fiction: Love, Heather (2019) marked debut in young-adult, later optioned by Nikki Ray Media 
  • Stargazer (2022) is a literary coming of age thriller set in Northern Ontario, drawing comparisons to The Secret History. Also optioned by Nikki Ray Media.
  • Children’s Fiction: The Rehearsal Club (co authored with Kate Fodor, 2024) is a middle grade mystery that earned a coveted starred Kirkus review and Junior Library Guild Gold Selection status
  • The Rayburn Affair (Verve, 2026) is a dark academia/literary suspense that explores authorship, creativity, AI, and friendship in a campus setting. 

  • Kirkus Starred Review for The Rehearsal Club
  • Junior Library Guild - Gold Selection for The Rehearsal Club
  • Stargazer and Love, Heather - both optioned by Nikki Ray Productions in 2023.
  • Half the World Global Literati Award (Winner) for Sister of Mine
  • Two-time Globe and Mail 'Top 100' Books of the year for Between and Sister of Mine
  • Dean's Teaching Award Winner