Shame on Me (memoir)

Last updated
Shame On Me
Shame On Me.jpg
Author Tessa McWatt
CountryCanada
Language English
Genre Memoir
Publisher Random House of Canada
Publication date
March 24, 2020
Media typePrint

Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging is a collection of autobiographical essays by Guyana-born Canadian writer Tessa McWatt, [1] published on March 24, 2020, by Random House Canada.

Contents

Reception

Shame on Me received a starred review from Quill & Quire , which said: "Tessa McWatt’s original and moving memoir, interrogates ideas of race, belonging, shame, purpose, destiny, desire, and identity. Through an examination of her physical body, she holds up a mirror to the ways culture and society read race and the bodies of others – their skin, hair, bones, and more. She does this with remarkable research and precision – an anatomical and literary close-reading of her own history and heritage." [2] Among other positive reviews were those appearing in Caribbean Collective Magazine ("a vivid picture of how oppressive regimes from colonial times follow us to the modern day"), [3] Medium ("McWatt seamlessly connects the past and present...a beautifully woven account"), [4] CBC Books ("a personal and powerful exploration of history and identity"), [5] and in The Guardian , where Barbara Taylor described Shame on Me as an "eloquent and moving book". [6] CBC named it one of the top nonfiction books of 2020. [7] The book also received the following accolades:

Related Research Articles

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.

The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writers’ Trust Politics and the Pen gala since 2000, superseding the organization's defunct Gordon Montador Award.

The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer.

The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces. The prize honours Thomas Head Raddall and is supported by an endowment he willed to it. The award is currently worth $25,000.

Tessa McWatt FRSL is a Guyanese-born Canadian writer. She has written seven novels and is a creative writing professor at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom. In 2021 she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Olive Marjorie Senior is a Jamaican poet, novelist, short story and non-fiction writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal in 2005 by the Institute of Jamaica for her contributions to literature. Senior was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica in 2021.

The J.M. Abraham Poetry Award, formerly known as the Atlantic Poetry Prize, is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival, to the best work of poetry published by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.

The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his late wife, the Canadian writer Danuta Gleed, whose favourite literary genre was short fiction, and is presented by The Writers' Union of Canada. The incomes of her One for the Chosen, a collection of short stories published posthumously in 1997 by BuschekBooks and released by Frances Itani and Susan Zettell, assist in funding the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Louise Gay</span> Canadian illustrator and childrens writer (born 1952)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivek Shraya</span> Musical artist

Vivek Shraya is a Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist. She currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, where she is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at the University of Calgary. As a trans woman of colour, Shraya often incorporates her identity in her music, writing, visual art, theatrical work, and films. She is a seven-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, and considered a Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future by CBC Arts.

Carrie Mac is a Canadian author of more than a dozen novels for Young Adults, both contemporary and speculative. Her latest work is the literary novel, LAST WINTER, due out from Random House Canada in early 2023. She also writes literary short fiction, and creative non-fiction. Some of her accolades include a CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize, the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, and the Arthur Ellis Award, as well as various other awards and recognitions.

Kai Cheng Thom is a Canadian writer and former social worker. Thom, a non-binary trans woman, has published four books, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir (2016), the poetry collection a place called No Homeland (2017), a children's book, From the Stars in The Sky to the Fish in the Sea (2017), and I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World (2019), a book of essays centered on transformative justice.

Canisia Lubrin is a writer, critic, professor, poet and editor. Originally from St. Lucia, Lubrin now lives in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jas M. Morgan</span> Indigenous Canadian writer

Jas M. Morgan is an Indigenous Canadian writer, who won the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for emerging LGBTQ writers in 2019.

<i>Madwoman</i> (book)

Madwoman is the fourth collection of poetry by Jamaican American poet Shara McCallum. Published in 2017 by Alice James Books, in Madwoman McCallum expands her work to the personal by exploring the difficulties of womanhood, madness, and motherhood. Madwoman's 55 poems use both English and elements of Patwa, the Jamaican creole language she heard people speak while she was growing up in Jamaica. Madwoman won the poetry category of the 2018 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.

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.

Chelene Knight is a Canadian writer and poet.

<i>A History of My Brief Body</i> 2020 memoir by Billy-Ray Belcourt

A History of My Brief Body is an autobiographical series of essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt, published July 14, 2020, by Penguin Canada.

<i>Butter Honey Pig Bread</i> 2020 novel by Francesca Ekwuyasi

Butter Honey Pig Bread is Francesca Ekwuyasi's debut novel, published on September 3, 2020 by Arsenal Pulp Press.

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.

References

  1. "Tessa McWatt, Bionic Woman". Wordfest. Calgary, Canada. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  2. Mason Pierre, Terese (2020-05-25). "Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  3. Alya (October 2020). "For Multiracial Girls: My Review of Tessa McWatt's 'Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging'". Caribbean Collective Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  4. Fitzhugh, Becky (2021-02-10). "Review of Shame on Me- An Anatomy of Race and Belonging, Tessa McWatt". Medium. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  5. "Shame on Me". CBC Books. July 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  6. Taylor, Barbara (2019-12-23). "Shame on Me by Tessa McWatt review – on race and belonging". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  7. "The best Canadian nonfiction of 2020". CBC Books. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  8. "Francesca Ekwuyasi, Billy-Ray Belcourt & Anne Carson among 2020 Governor General's Literary Awards finalists". CBC Books. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  9. "Announcing the 2020 OCM Bocas Prize Shortlist • Bocas Lit Fest". Bocas Lit Fest. 2020-04-02. Retrieved 2021-10-15.