Zalika Reid-Benta
Zalika Reid-Benta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto, Columbia University |
| Notable works | Frying Plantain, River Mumma |
Zalika Reid-Benta is a Canadian writer. Her debut novel River Mumma has been described as a "a rich and sometimes even dizzying brew that marks the emergence of a powerful new voice" in a starred review from Publishers Weekly. It was the October 2023 pick for the CityLine book club and has been listed as one of the best fiction books of 2023 on numerous platforms, including CBC Books. 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.
Reid-Benta's debut short story collection Frying Plantain was nominated and won numerous awards. 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.
Early life
Reid-Benta grew up in Toronto. 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. Even as a child she knew she wanted to write.
She graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours BA in English and Cinema studies and with a minor in Caribbean Studies. She then received an MFA from Columbia University with a concentration in fiction. 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. Prior to the publication of her book, she was mentored by writers Victor LaValle, George Elliott Clarke, Janice Galloway and Olive Senior.
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.”
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.
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.
Accolades
Reid-Benta has received several major awards for her work, including:
- 2019 Byblacks People’s Choice Awards for Frying Plantain.
- 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Frying Plantain.
- 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Frying Plantain.
Frying Plantain was shortlisted for the 2020 Toronto Book Awards. and for the 2020 Trillium Awards. It was a longlisted nominee for the 2019 Scotia Bank Giller Prize. and it was nominated for the 2021 White Pine Award.