Founded during Black History Month in 2014, the Toronto Urban Book Expo (TUBE) began as a grassroots book fair bringing together Black Canadian authors to promote and sell their books. The collective was founded by Stacey Robinson of Kya Publishing Inc., inspired by the literary communities at African-American book fairs in the early 2000s, particularly after visiting the National Black Book Festival in Houston, Texas, and experiencing the scale of BookExpo America at New York City's Javits Center. The vision was to create a space where Black Canadian writers could connect, collaborate, and showcase their independent works while building a supportive literary community in Canada.
Since then, TUBE has showcased more than 100 Black authors, including African-Canadian, African-American, Caribbean, and African writers, through book fairs, author presentations, panel discussions, book launches, and hybrid programming presented at library branches, cultural venues, and online.
Beyond the book fair, TUBE offers year-round initiatives including "Find Your Voice," "Warrior Women Winning," the "International Writers Workshop," and "Ink to Algorithm," a new content creator and media day that connects literary culture with the youth/digital creator system.
Committed to expanding access, representation, and opportunity for writers, TUBE continues to support traditionally published, self-published, and independent authors while fostering community through accessible, culturally relevant literary programming.
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