Téa Mutonji is a Canadian writer and poet, whose debut short story collection ''Shut Up You're Pretty'' was published in 2019.

Early life

Born in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, Mutonji came to Canada with her family when she was young and grew up in the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

district of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and in

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

. While living in

, she worked in the service industry. She then studied media studies and creative writing at the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough (abbreviated as U of T Scarborough or UTSC) is a division of the University of Toronto and one of its three campuses, located in the Scarborough, Ontario, Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

, and planned to go to

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

when she was selected as the first writer to be published by VS. Books,

Vivek Shraya Vivek Shraya (born February 15, 1981) is a Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist. She is a seven-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and is considered a Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future by CBC Arts. Shraya is dedicated to bringing cr ...

's new

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

imprint for emerging writers of colour.

Works

''Shut Up You're Pretty'', published in 2019, is a collection of linked short stories about a young girl's coming of age in Scarborough's Galloway neighborhood. The novel centers around Loli and her experiences, which include her move from the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, her sexual experiences, grappling with gender roles, and issues revolving around poverty and consent. Mutonji wrote the novel in part to counter negative stereotypes of the neighbourhood with a narrative that depicted some of her own more positive experiences of having lived there. Currently, Mutonji is working on an anthology with Adrian De Leon and Natasha Ramoutar. The anthology focuses on

writing.

Themes

In an interview with ''

CityNews City''News'' is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as City''Pulse'' as a standalone local newscast on the network's CITY- ...

'', Mutonji stated that she writes from an "activist lens". Mutonji describes that being called pretty is not a compliment. It is offensive because it prioritizes women’s physical appearance and overshadows every other attribute a woman can be. Instead, Mutonji describes a shift that is happening where women demand that their character is looked at first.

Accolades

In 2017, the Ontario Book Publishers Organization named Mutonji an emerging writer of the year. In 2023 she was named one of the ten winners of the

Journey Prize The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short stories published b ...

, in a special edition devoted to

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

writers. ''Shut Up You're Pretty'' was selected for the 2024 edition of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'', where it was defended by actress Kudakwashe Rutendo.

Biblio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutonji, Tea 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Black Canadian women poets Black Canadian short story writers Canadian women short story writers University of Toronto alumni Poets from Toronto Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Black Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets