France
sca Ekwuyasi is an author and artist from Lagos\, Nigeria and currentl
y based in Halifax\, Nova Scotia. Her work explores themes of faith\, fami
ly\, queerness\, consumption\, loneliness\, and belonging.
Fran
cesca's debut novel\, Butter Honey Pig Bread was longlisted for the 2020 Giller
Prize\, was a finalist for CBC's 2021 Canada Reads competition\, the 2021
Lambda Literary Award\, the 2021 Governor General's Award\, the 2021 Amaz
on Canada First Novel Award\, and the 2021 ReLit Award.
Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interwoven stories of twin sisters\, Kehin de and Taiye\, and their mother\, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi is convinced she was born an ogbanje\, a spirit that plagues families with misfortune b y dying in childhood to cause its mother misery. Kambirinachi and her two daughters become estranged from one another because of a trauma. They come together after more than a decade apart and confront their past and find forgiveness through food from their childhood.
\nHer writing has bee n published in Winter Tangerine Review\, Brittle Paper\, Transition Magazi ne\, the Malahat Review\, Visual Art News\, Vol. 1 Brooklyn\, GUTS magazin e\, the Puritan\, Canadian Art\, and elsewhere. Her story Ọrun is Heaven was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize.
\nInterviewi ng will be Vicky Mochama. Vick y Mochama is a writer and editor. A former national columnist for StarMetr o newspapers\, she has also written for the Toronto Star\, the Globe and M ail\, TVO\, The Walrus\, and The Washington Post. She co-founded Vocal Fry Studios\, and hosted and produced podcasts Safe Space and No Little Plans .
\nRegistrants will receive an e-mail 24 hours before the start of the program with an invitation to join.
\nProgrammer: Nancy
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