Zalika Reid-Benta

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Zalika Reid-Benta
ZalERB.png
Born Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationAuthor
Alma materUniversity of Toronto, Columbia University
Notable worksFrying Plantain, River Mumma

Zalika Reid-Benta is a Canadian author. [1] Her debut novel River Mumma was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award [2] and her debut short story collection Frying Plantain was nominated and won numerous awards. [3]

Contents

River Mumma received starred reviews from publications such as Publishers Weekly . [4] It has been listed as one of the best fiction books of 2023 on numerous platforms, including CBC Books. [5] The novel is a "magical realist story" inspired by Jamaican folklore. The main character, Alicia Gale, is a young Black woman having a quarter-life crisis, while adventuring through the streets of Toronto, Ontario. [6]

Frying Plantain is a collection of linked short stories centering on the coming of age of Kara Davis, a young Jamaican-Canadian girl growing up in the Eglinton West neighbourhood of Toronto. [7]

Early life

Reid-Benta grew up in Toronto. [8] As a child she enjoyed books written by Judy Blume and movies like Now and Then and My Girl, but she didn't see herself represented in these stories. [8] Even as a child she knew she wanted to write. [9]

She graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours BA in English and Cinema studies and with a minor in Caribbean Studies. [6] She then received an MFA from Columbia University with a concentration in fiction. [6] In 2017 she attended the Writers Studio at the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity and was a 2019 John Gardner Fiction Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. [6] Prior to the publication of her book, she was mentored by writers Victor LaValle, George Elliott Clarke, Janice Galloway and Olive Senior. [7]

Inspirations

In a Scotiabank Giller Prize Spotlight interview, Reid-Benta describes Toni Morrison as being one of her literary heroes and mentions that “reading what she does with language, definitely motivates me to write the best way I can.” [8]

When interviewed by Vannessa Barnier, Reid-Benta also describes that Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche were inspirations. [10]

In an interview for River Mumma with the Library Journal, Reid-Benta mentions Nalo Hopkinson, Octavia Butler and Cherie Dimaline as inspirations and some of her favourite writers in science fiction and fantasy. [11]

Accolades

Reid-Benta has received several major awards for her work, including:

River Mumma is shortlisted for the 2024 Trillium Book Award. [16] Frying Plantain was shortlisted for the 2020 Toronto Book Awards, [17] for the 2020 Trillium Book Awards, [18] and the 2020 Forest of Reading® Evergreen Award. It was a longlisted nominee for the 2019 Scotia Bank Giller Prize. [8] and it was nominated for the 2021 White Pine Award. [19]

References

  1. ↑ Ryan B. Patrick, "Why Zalika Reid-Benta wrote a short story collection that looks at growing up young and black in Toronto". CBC Books, July 9, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Zalika Reid-Benta and Britta Badour among finalists for 2024 Trillium Book Awards". CBC Books. May 7, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Why Zalika Reid-Benta wrote a short story collection that looks at growing up young and black in Toronto Social Sharing". July 12, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  4. ↑ "River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta". www.publishersweekly.com. November 22, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  5. ↑ "The best Canadian fiction of 2023 | CBC Books". Archived from the original on 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Zalika Reid-Benta writing novel titled River Mumma, to be published in 2023". CBC Books. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  7. 1 2 Deborah Dundas, "Zalika Reid-Benta's debut book puts midtown Toronto on the page at last". Toronto Star , June 7, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Scotiabank Giller Prize Spotlight: Zalika Reid-Benta". Scotiabank Giller Prize. 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  9. ↑ "Zalika Reid-Benta". New College - University of Toronto. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  10. ↑ "Interview: Zalika Reid-Benta on Banff, Process and Vulnerability". Queen Mob's Tea House. 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  11. ↑ Chadwick, Kristi. "Talking with 'River Mumma' Author Zalika Reid-Benta | SFF Q&A". Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  12. ↑ "2023 ByBlacks People's Choice Awards Winners".
  13. ↑ "Zalika Reid-Benta wins the ByBlacks 2019 People's Choice Award for Authors!". Transatlantic Agency. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  14. ↑ "Danuta Gleed Literary Award". The Writers' Union of Canada. 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  15. ↑ "2020 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Winners". YouTube . 25 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Zalika Reid-Benta and Britta Badour among finalists for 2024 Trillium Book Awards". CBC Books, May 7, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Desmond Cole & Zalika Reid-Benta among finalists for $10K Toronto Book Award | CBC Books". CBC. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  18. ↑ "Seth, Téa Mutonji & Zalika Reid-Benta among finalists for $20K Trillium Book Award for Ontario books | CBC Books". CBC. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  19. ↑ "Here are the 2021 White Pine Award finalists: 10 great Canadian books for readers in Grades 9-12 | CBC Books". CBC. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
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