Shani Mootoo is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. She was born in Ireland in 1958, raised in Trinidad, and moved to Canada at the age of 19.
Her first collection of short fiction, Out on Main Street, was published in 1993, and her debut novel, Cereus Blooms at Night, was released in 1996. She is also a multimedia artist, whose paintings, videos and photos have been exhibited internationally.