Zalika Reid-Benta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 won and was nominated for numerous awards.[3]
River Mumma received starred reviews from publications such as Publishers Weekly.[4] It was 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]
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]
