Eleanor Sam is Canadian, born in Guyana, South America with West, and Central African ancestry. Since childhood Eleanor has dabbled in poetry and writing of plays. Her love for the arts led her to the theatre in her native Guyana, where she performed in multiple productions and won best supporting actress for one of her roles. In Canada, she continued to follow her passion, but was encouraged to seek a safer and more "pragmatic" vocational path. She moved from Fine Arts and leaned into the Social Sciences where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from York University, and a Master of Health Science degree from the University of Toronto. But her fire for the arts never went out. In recent years, she returned to her first love, storytelling. Eleanor is a strong advocate for Black women’s health, and lives in Toronto with her husband. Manor on the Viridian Sea is her second novel.