Saumiya Balasubramaniam has felt a passion for writing since her youth, but becoming a mother was the catalyst for pursuing it as a career.

“As I was raising my child, I read to her a lot,” said Balasubramaniam. “My daughter grew up reading books with me, but as I read to her, I wanted to write some stories of my own.”

“I didn’t start out as a children’s writer; it just worked itself out because I felt very strongly about the stories I wanted to tell.”

Originally employed as a software engineer after completing her master’s degree in computer science, she decided to change course and follow the instinct that told her to share her writing with the world.

Balasubramaniam is the incoming Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence. The program provides an established Canadian author with writing time and the opportunity to mentor creative writers from the Hamilton community and beyond through workshops and one-on-one consultations.

Reading to her daughter is not the only way motherhood has influenced Balasubramaniam’s writing. After she immigrated to Canada from India, her mother spent a summer with her and her family in Toronto. Watching the dynamic between two generations of different cultures unfold inspired to write her first children’s book, When I Found Grandma.

“It drew from real life,” she said. “I saw the play between a five-year-old and a 70-year-old person living in the same household. It’s a story about the intergenerational and intercultural experiences of a grandmother and a granddaughter who don’t really get along at first because they come from different places.”

The book was nominated for an Ezra Jack Keats Award and a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. It won the 2019 Spirituality and Practice Award and was featured in The Globe and Mail’s “Seven books to help kids make sense of the world.”

While nominations and awards are validating, Balasubramaniam said her biggest accomplishment is the publication of her work.

“I’m most proud of publishing When I Found Grandma,” she said. “Not because it did well, but because I believed in it. No matter how many times I got rejected, I was persistent and kept pursuing it.”

She has since published two more children’s books, Two Drops of Brown in a Cloud of White and When I Visited Grandma, a followup to her debut picture book.

Described as an eclectic writer, Balasubramaniam enjoys writing in many styles and genres. She began her career writing columns and essays for publications including Reader’s Digest Canada and The Globe and Mail, and often finds herself writing poetry in her spare time.

During her residency, she plans to write her memoir (tentatively titled G is for Grief), exploring grief and loss. The project will be a heartfelt personal expression but also a testament to the power of new and creative ways of resilient grieving.

In addition to working on her memoir, Balasubramaniam is looking forward to connecting with the community and mentoring aspiring children’s book authors. She hopes to provide feedback to creative writers from all genres and advise them on how to get their stories published.

“I think ultimately, everyone wants to see their work published,” she said.

“Writing and learning and then receiving feedback is lovely, but at some point, aspiring writers want to put their work out into the world. That’s what I think people would want with their stories.”

The Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence program is led by McMaster University’s Department of English and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Humanities, in partnership with McMaster University Libraries and Hamilton Public Library. It is supported by the Taylor family.

Book a consultation 

Saumiya Balasubramaniam is available for in-person or virtual writing consultations at no charge through the writer in residence program.

To book a consultation, please visit her website.

Writing workshops 

Balasubramaniam is hosting a series of free writing workshops during her residency. Details will be shared as available on the events pages of the Hamilton Public Library website. Please check back regularly.