Author | Francesca Ekwuyasi |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Literary fiction |
Publisher | Arsenal Pulp Press |
Publication date | September 3, 2020 |
Publication place | Canada |
Media type | Print, ebook, kindle, audio |
ISBN | 9781551528236 1st ed Paperback |
OCLC | 1140380383 |
Butter Honey Pig Bread is Francesca Ekwuyasi's debut novel, published on September 3, 2020 by Arsenal Pulp Press.
The book tells the story of three women, Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye, and takes place over three continents. Its main themes include food, family, and forgiveness. [1]
In 2013, after completing her mandatory National Youth Service Corps stint in Nigeria and awaiting her Canadian visa, Ekwuyasi began writing and spent her days reading Nigerian literature in a local library. [2] This experience shaped the writing of Butter Honey Pig Bread.
Later, Ekwuyasi received her Canadian visa and moved to Halifax and continued writing Butter Honey Pig Bread, though she didn't intend for it to be published. [2] However, a friend encouraged her to send a draft to Arsenal Pulp Press, and around the time her Canadian work permit ended, the manuscript was accepted. [2]
In time, the book was published, and Ekwuyasi received permanent residence in Canada. [2]
Butter Honey Pig Bread received starred reviews from Booklist [3] and Publishers Weekly, [4] as well as numerous positive reviews.
Laura Chanoux, writing for Booklist, applauded Ekwuyasi's writing, saying, "The descriptions throughout the novel... invite readers to fully savor Ekwuyasi’s language. Her writing is at times playful... Mixing emotional depth with supernatural elements, this is a masterful debut." [3]
Further positive reviews came from The New Yorker, [5] The Puritan, [6] Hamilton Review of Books, [7] The Suburban , [8] This Black Girl Reads, [9] Consumed by Ink, [10] and Foreword Reviews. [11]
CBC named Honey Butter Pig Bread one of the best Canadian novels of 2020. [12] The Globe and Mail [13] and Quill & Quire [14] included it in their list of the best books of the year, regardless of genre.
Butter Honey Pig Bread was the ninth best selling Canadian book in 2021. [15]
Year | Award/Honor | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Giller Prize | — | Longlisted | [16] |
Governor General's Awards | Fiction in English | Shortlisted | [17] | |
2021 | Amazon.ca First Novel Award | — | Finalist | [18] |
CBC Canada Reads | — | Nominated | [8] [19] | |
Lambda Literary Award | Lesbian Fiction | Finalist | [20] | |
ReLit Award | Novel | Shortlisted | [21] | |
2022 | Dayne Ogilvie Prize | — | Won | [22] |
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.
Anita Rau Badami is a Canadian writer of Indian descent.
The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, one each for writers and illustrators of English- and French-language books. The Governor General's Awards program is administered by the Canada Council.
Lisa Robertson is a Canadian poet, essayist and translator. She lives in France.
An ọgbanje is a term in Odinani for what was thought to be an evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune. Belief in ọgbanje in Igboland is not as strong as it once was, although there are still some believers.
Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her written and illustrated works in both French and English, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, multiple Governor General's Awards, and multiple Janet Savage Blachford Prizes, among others.
Vivek Shraya is a Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist. She is a seven-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and is considered a Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future by CBC Arts.
Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as underground literature, LGBT literature, multiracial literature, graphic novels, visual arts, progressive and activist non-fiction and works in translation, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest.
Roger Mooking is a Trinidadian-Canadian chef, musician, and television host. Mooking is the host of the television series Man Fire Food. He is also the host and co-creator of Everyday Exotic. Both programs aired on the Cooking Channel and Food Network Canada. He also appears on Heat Seekers with Aarón Sanchez on Food Network. Mooking has had many appearances on shows such as Today, Good Morning America, The Marilyn Denis Show, Iron Chef America, Top Chef Canada, and Chopped Canada.
The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an emerging Canadian writer who is part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community. Originally presented as a general career achievement award for emerging writers that considered their overall body of work, since 2022 it has been presented to honor debut books.
Canisia Lubrin is a writer, critic, professor, poet and editor. Originally from St. Lucia, Lubrin now lives in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
Amanda Leduc is a Canadian writer. She is known for her books Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space and The Centaur's Wife.
Francesca Ekwuyasi is a Nigerian-Canadian writer and artist. She is most noted for her debut novel Butter Honey Pig Bread, which was published in 2020.
Indians on Vacation is a novel by Canadian writer Thomas King, published in 2020 by HarperCollins. The novel focuses on Bird and Mimi, a First Nations couple who are travelling in Europe following the discovery of a trove of old postcards from Mimi's late uncle Leroy, who absconded with a valuable family heirloom 100 years earlier but never returned.
The Barren Grounds is a middle-grade children's book by David A. Robertson, published September 8, 2020 by Puffin Books. The publisher has named it a juxtaposition between traditional Indigenous stories and C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.
A History of My Brief Body is an autobiographical series of essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt, published July 14, 2020, by Penguin Canada.
Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging is a collection of autobiographical essays by Guyana-born Canadian writer Tessa McWatt, published on March 24, 2020, by Random House Canada.
Bug is a play by Indigenous playwright Yolanda Bonnell that was a Governor General's Award 2020 finalist. The play is the story of an Indigenous mother and daughter, their substance addictions, incorporating themes of racialised and colonial violence.
Robin Stevenson is a Canadian author of thirty books for kids and teens. Her writing has been translated into several languages, and published in more than a dozen countries. Robin's books regularly receive starred reviews, have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize and a Stonewall Book Award, and have been finalists for the Governor General's Awards, the Lambda Literary Award, and others. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, for toddlers through teens.
Mary Beth Leatherdale is a Canadian author and storyteller.