About Us

Griots Lounge Publishing Canada, registered and headquartered in Manitoba in June 2020, aims at diversifying the Canadian book market by engaging the African style of writing in synergy with Canadian literature. Griots Lounge Publishing Canada in Winnipeg is the head office of the Griots Lounge imprint globally. However, Griots Lounge Publishing was first founded in Nigeria in 2012 with a focus on new writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. In 2013, Griots Lounge Publishing launched her first title in London, United Kingdom, and has since launched around Africa and the United States. In June 2020, Griots Lounge Publishing moved her head office to Winnipeg Manitoba, where she operates independently with a clear focus on minority African-Canadian writers of poetry, fiction, children’s stories and non-fiction. Griots Lounge Publishing Canada is a traditional publishing press.

Our titles have been nominated for the Manitoba Book Awards and the Alberta Literary awards. We have also published remarkable works, such as The Rights of Indigenous Peoples Explained, by Summer Okibe, and other works of fiction and non-fiction. We are committed to releasing more interesting works to the Canadian market in the years to come. We have been profiled by the CBC and also Quill and Quire.

In February 2023, Griots Lounge Publishing Canada commenced a major sales deal with the Toronto based sales agent, Ampersand Inc., which also ushered in a nation-wide distribution deal with the University of Toronto Press Distribution. These deals mean that we now enjoy a Canada-wide reach and a possible distribution to the United States and other countries. These achievements, we have taken as major opportunities that will help us reach our goals as a Manitoban press.

Uchechukwu Umezurike (Author), Bibi Ukonu (Founder), Michael Afenfia (Author)

Griots Lounge Publishing Canada is an associate member of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers and a full member of the Association of Canadian Publishers.

With the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council and the Ministry of Sport, Culture and Heritage, Manitoba.