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 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]

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:

• 2023 ByBlacks People's Choice Awards for Best Author^[12]
• 2019 ByBlacks People’s Choice Awards for Best Author.^[13]
• 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Frying Plantain.^[14]
• 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Frying Plantain.^[15]

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. https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-fiction-of-2023-1.7044119 ^{[bare URL]}
6. "Zalika Reid-Benta writing novel titled River Mumma, to be published in 2023". CBC Books. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
7. Deborah Dundas, "Zalika Reid-Benta's debut book puts midtown Toronto on the page at last". Toronto Star, June 7, 2019.
8. "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.