Mathis Z'Aire Bailey (born December 13, 1981) is an American–Canadian author and

fiction writer Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada.

Biography

Mathis was born in 1981, in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, to Deborah Munroe-Bailey and Charles Philip Bailey. He is the middle child of three siblings. His mother was born in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

and his father is an American citizen. His uncle is the late Myles Munroe. Mathis graduated from

Redford High School Redford High School was a secondary school in Detroit, Michigan. A part of Detroit Public Schools, the school opened in September 1921 and ceased operations in June 2007. Staffed and operated by the Detroit Public Schools; Redford High School ser ...

in Detroit. He moved to Toronto in 2008 where he received his degree in

Broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate an ...

and York University. He was a regular writer for

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

’s newspaper, ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

''. Mathis didn't think of becoming an author until he decided to take a creative writing program to improve his writing chops to write restaurant reviews for the ''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launch ...

''. Mathis is the author of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

novel ''Confused Spice'' which was published in late 2016. The novel was reviewed by ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', ''Manhattan Book Review'' and ''San Francisco Book Review''. According to ''Kirkus Reviews'', ''"The author beautifully melds the art of cooking with rising romantic desire and examines engaging cultural dynamics"''.Kirkus Review reviews Confused Spice
Retrieved 2016-11-28 ''Confused Spice'' is a story of a twenty-nine-year old man, who dreams of becoming a renowned

pâtissier A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, b ...

and chef.Confused Spice reviewed at Goodreads
Retrieved 2016-11-28 Mathis' second novel "Brown Sugar & Spice" is now out. Kirkus Reviews already claims it to be "Warm and engaging." The third book in the series called "Black Truffle and Spice" is due out Early Spring 2022.

Books

*''Confused Spice'' (2016) *Brown Sugar & Spice (2019) *Black Truffle & Spice (2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Mathis 1981 births Living people American LGBT novelists African-American novelists Writers from Detroit Writers from Toronto Redford High School alumni 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people Canadian LGBT novelists American male novelists Canadian male novelists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Black Canadian writers American emigrants to Canada African-American male writers Black Canadian LGBT people