Mona Awad is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer.[1] Her debut book, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, a novel (structured using linked short stories) about a woman's lifelong struggle with body image issues,[2] won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award[3] and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2016.[4] She was inspired to write the book because of her experiences growing up and struggling with her own body image.[5] In the Los Angeles Times, Awad has been quoted as saying, she "made [music] playlists for every chapter" in 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl because it helped her "immerse" herself in the story and better "access it."[6]
Mona Awad | |
---|---|
Born | (1978-08-22) August 22, 1978 (age 44) Montreal, Quebec |
Occupation | novelist, short stories |
Nationality | Canadian |
Period | 2010s |
Notable works | 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Bunny |
Awad was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec and she spent her teen years in Mississauga, Ontario.[1] She studied English literature at York University and went on to earn a masters in English at the University of Edinburgh, an MFA at Brown University,[1] and a PhD at the University of Denver.[7] Awad's short fiction and non-fiction writing has been published in magazines including McSweeney's, The Walrus, Joyland, Post Road, St. Petersburg Review, and Maisonneuve. When Awad began writing as a columnist for Maisonneuve, she used the pseudonym Veronica Tartley.
Awad desires for her stories to provide readers with "a sense of connection" so that "people [may] feel less alone."[8]
In 2017, Awad's short story Woman Causes Avalanche[9] was published by the L.A. Review of Books.
Her next novel, Bunny, was published in June, 2019, by Viking Press.[10] Bunny tells the story of a girl named Samantha Mackey who attends a prestigious graduate program located in New England, at the fictional Warren University. There Samantha finds herself entangled in the weird rituals lead by the "Bunnies" — her fellow students who are more than just the clique that they seem on the surface.
Her third novel, All's Well, was released on August 3, 2021 by Simon & Schuster.[11]
She has lived in the US since 2009, currently in Boston.
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