Ben Antao

Ben Antao, is a Canadian writer, journalist, former teacher, and certified financial planner. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada.

Early life and education

Ben Antao was born in Velim, Goa, Portuguese India during the Portuguese Empire. He graduated from the University of Bombay.

Career

Journalism (1963–1967)

Antao first worked as a reporter for The Navhind Times in Panjim, Goa and later joined The Indian Express in Bombay as a reporter. In 1966, he was awarded a journalism fellowship by the World Press Institute based at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for a year of study and travel in the United States. While in the US, he worked for ten weeks as a writer and editor for The Denver Post, CO. After immigrating to Canada in 1967, he worked for The Catholic Register weekly and The Globe and Mail, both of Toronto.

Teaching (1976–1998)

In 1976, he graduated from the University of Toronto and switched to a teaching career. He retired from teaching English in high school in 1998.

Writing (1990–present)

In 1990, he published Images of Goa, a memoir of his early life and experiences in his native land. In 2004, he published Goa, A Rediscovery, a travelogue of his visit to Goa. He has written five novels, over two dozen short stories, a play and a movie script based on his novel The Tailor's Daughter. His other novels are Blood & Nemesis, Penance, Living on the Market, The Priest and His Karma, and Money and Politics. His non-fiction includes two memoirs: Images of Goa and Images of the USA, and two travelogues: Goa, A Rediscovery and The Lands of Sicily.
Antao is a former president of the Canadian Authors Association.