fiction.wikisort.org - Writer

Zalika Reid-Benta is a Canadian writer,[1] whose debut short story collection Frying Plantain has been nominated and won numerous awards.[2] The book 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, Ontario.[3]

Zalika Reid-Benta
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Author
Alma mater	University of Toronto, Columbia University
Notable works	Frying Plantain
Website
www.zalikareidbenta.com//

Early life

Reid-Benta grew up in Toronto.[4] 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.[4] Even as a child she knew she wanted to write.[5]

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 Gardener 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.[3]

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.”[4]

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.[7]

Currently, Reid-Benta is writing a "magical realist story" inspired by Jamaican folklore. The main character is a young Black woman having a quarter-life crisis, while adventuring through the streets of Toronto.[6]

Accolades

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

• 2019 Byblacks People’s Choice Awards for Frying Plantain.[8]
• 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Frying Plantain.[9]
• 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Frying Plantain.[10]

Frying Plantain was shortlisted for the 2020 Toronto Book Awards.[11] and for the 2020 Trillium Awards.[12] It was a longlisted nominee for the 2019 Scotia Bank Giller Prize.[4]and it was nominated for the 2021 White Pine Award.[13]

References

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