Zalika Reid-Benta is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer, whose debut short story collection ''Frying Plantain'' has been 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 Little Jamaica, also known as Eglinton West, is an ethnic enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the former suburb of York, along Eglinton Avenue West, from Allen Road to Keele Street, and is part of four neighbourhoods: Silvert ...

neighbourhood of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

.Deborah Dundas
"Zalika Reid-Benta's debut book puts midtown Toronto on the page at last"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', June 7, 2019.

Early life

Reid-Benta grew up in Toronto. As a child she enjoyed books written by

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are ''Are You There God? It's Me ...

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 The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

with an Honours BA in English and Cinema studies and with a minor in Caribbean Studies. She then received an MFA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

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 Victor LaValle (born February 3, 1972) is an American author. He is the author of a short-story collection, ''Slapboxing with Jesus'', and four novels, ''The Ecstatic,'' ''Big Machine,'' ''The Devil in Silver,'' and '' The Changeling''. His fanta ...

George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...

Janice Galloway Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti. Biography She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated w ...

and Olive Senior.

Inspirations

In a Scotiabank

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competitio ...

Spotlight interview, Reid-Benta describes

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

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 ''Annie John'', a novel written by Jamaica Kincaid in 1985, details the growth of a girl in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. It covers issues as diverse as mother-daughter relationships, lesbianism, racism, clinical depression, poverty, ...

'' by

Jamaica Kincaid Jamaica Kincaid (; born May 25, 1949) is an Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in St. John's, Antigua (part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda). She lives in North Bennington, Vermo ...

, '' Bastard out of Carolina'' by

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Allison (born April 11, 1949) is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of a ...

, and ''

Purple Hibiscus ''Purple Hibiscus'' is a novel written by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her debut novel, it was first published by Algonquin Books in 2003. Synopsis ''Purple Hibiscus'' is set in postcolonial Nigeria, a country beset by political ...

'' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche were inspirations. 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.

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 The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

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 The ''White Pine Award'' is one of the annual literature Forest of Reading awards sponsored by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). Every year, 10 books are nominated for the award and students vote their favourite book. The White Pine Nonfi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid-Benta, Zalika 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women short story writers Black Canadian women Black Canadian writers University of Toronto alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Writers from Toronto Living people Year of birth missing (living people)