AUTHOR

Maria Adnan Doriwala is a Dubai-born writer of Indian heritage, now calling Canada home.

From when she was little, Maria had a deep love for books. Diving into them felt like an escape right from the adventures of the Famous Five to the drama of Mallory Towers and the magical world of Harry Potter. Her father would stand in line to grab the first copy , hurrying home like a treasure in his hands, unknowingly building an unbreakable connection with words. Every middle school essay saved carefully, her parents encouraged her to write. Scribbling her feelings away in diary after diary, she wrote her first romance novel in high school and hid it away in a memory box, thinking it wasn’t good enough.

Her career took her through a buzzy and busy hospitality marketing stint in the hub of tourism, Dubai, with copywriting at its core. In the stillness of postpartum, Duas in the Dark began in the quiet hours of the night, written in the glow of a laptop screen to the rhythm of her daughter's gentle breathing, fast asleep.

ILLUSTRATOR

Anna Belfer is an author-illustrator and mixed-media artist. Ever since she was a child, she has deeply loved beautifully illustrated books. Thanks to her mother, she grew up surrounded by them. She also always dreamed of having friends all over the world. Currently, she lives with her family in Vietnam.

For as long as she can remember, she has been drawn to different countries and cultures. For Anna, illustration is a way of exploring the world, discovering diverse cultures and traditions, and making the world a kinder place. She feels a profound sense of responsibility whenever she creates art for children. She works in mixed media, combining soft oil pastels, watercolors, gouache, ink, and colored pencils. Check out her portfolio onBehance.