Yejide Kilanko

Last updated

Yejide Kilanko (born 1975) is a Nigerian Canadian fiction writer and social worker. She is known for addressing violence against women in her work. Her debut novel, Daughters Who Walk This Path, was a Canadian fiction bestseller in 2012.

Contents

Early life and education

Kilanko was born in 1975 in Ibadan, Nigeria, where her father worked as a university professor. She began writing poetry at a young age. [1] [2] [3] She studied political science at the University of Ibadan. [4]

Move to Canada and social work career

In 2000, Kilanko left Nigeria, marrying an American and immigrating to Laurel, Maryland, in the United States. She then moved in 2004 to Canada, where she now lives in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. [1] [4] [5]

In Canada, she studied social work at the University of Victoria and the University of Windsor. [2] [4] She works as a therapist in children's mental health. [1] [3]

Writing

Kilanko initially focused on poetry, later turning to fiction. She was prompted to write her first novel after struggling with vicarious trauma from hearing about the experiences of the children she works with as a mental health counselor. [6]

Her debut book, Daughters Who Walk This Path, was published in 2012. Set in her hometown of Ibadan, it deals with sexual assault and violence against women and children in Nigeria, told through the eyes of a child narrator. [1] [7] [8] It was described by reviewers as breaking boundaries on the taboo of discussing sexual violence, particularly in Nigeria. [6] [9]

Daughters Who Walk This Path was a Canadian national fiction bestseller for several weeks. [10] [11] [12] It was featured on the Globe and Mail 's list of 100 best books of 2012. [13] In 2014, the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recommended it for summer reading in the Guardian. [14]

Her novel was also shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2016, after it was released there by a Nigerian publisher. [15] [16] The prize eventually went to Abubakar Adam Ibrahim for his book Season of Crimson Blossoms. [17]

Her subsequent work of fiction, the novella Chasing Butterflies, was published in 2015 as a fundraiser for Worldreader. [10] [18] It also discusses violence against women, focusing on domestic violence. [6] [19]

In 2018, she published a children's book, There Is an Elephant in My Wardrobe, which is intended to help children with anxiety. [10] [20]

Her manuscript for her subsequent novel, which "fictionalizes the stories of female Nigerian nurses living in the United States who were murdered by their much older husbands," was shortlisted for Canada's Guernica Prize for Literary Fiction in 2019 under the working title Moldable Women . [10] [21] It was published in 2021 as A Good Name. [22] [23]

Kilanko identifies as a feminist and describes her work as inherently feminist. [6] She says she is particularly influenced by African and African American women writers such as Buchi Emecheta, Chika Unigwe, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. [24] [18]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

Bonnie Burnard was a Canadian short story writer and novelist, best known for her 1999 novel, A Good House, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Coady</span> Canadian novelist and journalist

Lynn Coady is a Canadian novelist and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</span> Nigerian writer (born 1977)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [which] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature", particularly in her second home, the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Toews</span> Canadian writer (born 1964)

Miriam Toews is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including A Complicated Kindness (2004), All My Puny Sorrows (2014), and Women Talking (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governor General's Award for Fiction and the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award for her body of work. Toews is also a three-time finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a two-time winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerian literature</span> Literature of Nigerians

Nigerian literature may be roughly defined as the literary writing by citizens of the nation of Nigeria for Nigerian readers, addressing Nigerian issues. This encompasses writers in a number of languages, including not only English but Igbo, Urhobo, Yoruba, and in the northern part of the county Hausa and Nupe. More broadly, it includes British Nigerians, Nigerian Americans and other members of the African diaspora.

Catherine Bush is a Canadian novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Thien</span> Canadian short story writer and novelist

Madeleine Thien is a Canadian short story writer and novelist. The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Literature has considered her work as reflecting the increasingly trans-cultural nature of Canadian literature, exploring art, expression and politics inside Cambodia and China, as well as within diasporic East Asian communities. Thien's critically acclaimed novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, won the 2016 Governor General's Award for English-language fiction, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards for Fiction. It was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, and the 2017 Rathbones Folio Prize. Her books have been translated into more than 25 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elif Shafak</span> Turkish novelist, essayist and womens rights activist

Elif Shafak is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, political scientist and activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chika Unigwe</span> Nigerian-born Igbo author (born 1974)

Chika Nina Unigwe is a Nigerian-born Igbo author who writes in English and Dutch. In April 2014 she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. Previously based in Belgium, she now lives in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather O'Neill</span> Canadian writer (b. 1973)

Heather O'Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by singer-songwriter John K. Samson. Lullabies won the competition. The book also won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for eight other major awards, including the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Governor General's Award and was longlisted for International Dublin Literary Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Groff</span> American writer

Lauren Groff is an American novelist and short story writer. She has written four novels and two short story collections, including Fates and Furies (2015), Florida (2018), and Matrix (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aminatta Forna</span> Scottish and Sierra Leonean writer

Aminatta Forna, OBE, is a Scottish and Sierra Leonean writer. She is the author of a memoir, The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest, and four novels: Ancestor Stones (2006), The Memory of Love (2010), The Hired Man (2013) and Happiness (2018). Her novel The Memory of Love was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for "Best Book" in 2011, and was also shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Forna is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and was, until recently, Sterling Brown Distinguished Visiting professor at Williams College in Massachusetts. She is currently Director and Lannan Foundation Chair of Poetics of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esi Edugyan</span> Canadian novelist (born 1978)

Esi Edugyan is a Canadian novelist. She has twice won the Giller Prize, for her novels Half-Blood Blues (2011) and Washington Black (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Evans</span> British novelist, journalist and critic (born 1972)

Diana Omo Evans FRSL is a British novelist, journalist and critic who was born and lives in London. Evans has written four full-length novels. Her first novel, 26a, published in 2005, won the Orange Award for New Writers, the Betty Trask Award and the deciBel Writer of the Year award. Her third novel Ordinary People was shortlisted for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction and won the 2019 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature. A House for Alice was published in 2023.

Shelly Sanders is a Canadian journalist and novelist writing in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shilpi Somaya Gowda</span> Canadian author

Shilpi Somaya Gowda is the award-winning, New York Times and internationally bestselling Canadian author of Secret Daughter, The Golden Son, and The Shape of Family. She lives in California with her family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayobami Adebayo</span> Nigerian writer (born 1988)

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is a Nigerian writer. Her 2017 debut novel, Stay With Me, won the 9mobile Prize for Literature and the Prix Les Afriques. She was awarded The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture in 2017.

Yewande Omotoso is a South African-based novelist, architect and designer, who was born in Barbados and grew up in Nigeria. She is the daughter of Nigerian writer Kole Omotoso, and the sister of filmmaker Akin Omotoso. She currently lives in Johannesburg. Her two published novels have earned her considerable attention, including winning the South African Literary Award for First-Time Published Author, being shortlisted for the South African Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the M-Net Literary Awards 2012, and the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature, and being longlisted for the 2017 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction.

Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a Nigerian author and educator, whose published work includes novels, poetry, short stories, books for children, essays and journalism. She is the winner of several awards in Nigeria, including the Nigeria Prize for Literature.

<i>The Son of the House</i> 2019 novel by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe

The Son of the House is a family saga novel written by the Nigerian author Cheluchi Onyemelukwe. Her debut novel, it was first published by Penguin Random House South Africa and by Parrésia Publishers in Nigeria in 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Newcomer Stories: Yejide Kilanko". Chatham-Kent. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  2. 1 2 Mbaye, Ndeye Sene (2013-04-22). "Daughters who walk the path by Yejide Kilanko". Afrobooks. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  3. 1 2 "Yejide Kilanko". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  4. 1 2 3 "Yejide Kilanko". Ottawa International Writers Festival. 2012. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  5. ↑ Carlucci, Paul (2012-09-10). "Africa: Review - Daughters Who Walk This Path". AllAfrica. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mordi, Melissa (2019-06-03). "Yejide Kilanko: Shattering The Shackles Of Silence Through Writing". The Guardian Life. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  7. ↑ Ullery, Sarah (2018-05-17). "10 Books by Nigerian Authors with Feminist Themes". Book Riot. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  8. ↑ Kelly, Joanne (2012-04-28). "Setting helps tell dark story". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  9. ↑ Martin, Diana (2012-05-03). "This is for all the silent daughters; NOVEL: Newly published work encourages the abused to seek help". Chatham Daily News.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Yejide Kilanko signs contract for new book". The Daily Trust. 2019-10-26.
  11. ↑ "BESTSELLERS". The Globe and Mail. 2012-05-05.
  12. ↑ "BESTSELLERS". The Globe and Mail. 2012-06-23.
  13. ↑ "The Globe 100". The Globe and Mail. 2012-11-24.
  14. ↑ "Best holiday reads 2014 - top authors recommend their favourites". The Guardian. 2014-07-12. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  15. ↑ "11 Authors Shortlisted for the Nigerian Prize for Literature 2016". AllAfrica. 2016-07-17.
  16. ↑ Lasisi, Akeem (2016-07-15). "Women writers dominate shortlist of $100,000 literature prize". The Punch Newspaper. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  17. ↑ Sam-Duru, Prisca (2016-10-13). "2016 Winner of $100,000 Nigeria prize for Literature emerges". Vanguard News. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  18. 1 2 Ibrahim, Abubakar Adam (2016-01-30). "'Being a Writer Is a Huge Part of My Identity'". AllAfrica.
  19. ↑ "BN Prose – Book Excerpt: Chasing Butterflies by Yejide Kilanko". BellaNaija. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  20. ↑ Terfloth, Trevor (2010-02-25). "Author tackles issue of child anxiety; Guest book reading part of Black History Month programming". Chatham Daily News.
  21. ↑ "Nigerian makes Guernica Prize 2019 shortlist". The Daily Trust. 2019-09-14.
  22. ↑ "Yejide Kilanko On the Making of "A Good Name"". BellaNaija. 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  23. ↑ "65 Canadian works of fiction to watch for in fall 2021". CBC. 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  24. ↑ Fantoni, Beatrice (2012-10-27). "Chatham social worker's debut novel explores young women, abuse in Nigeria". Windsor Star. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.