Esi Edugyan
| Esi Edugyan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1977 (age 38–39) Calgary, Alberta |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 2004–present |
| Notable works | Half-Blood Blues |
| Notable awards |
Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 Half-Blood Blues |
| Spouse | Steven Price |
Esi Edugyan (born 1977) is a Canadian novelist.[1]
Biography
Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, to Ghanaian immigrant parents,[1] she studied creative writing at the University of Victoria and Johns Hopkins University before publishing her debut novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, in 2004.[1]
Despite favourable reviews for her first novel, Edugyan had difficulty securing a publisher for her second fiction manuscript.[1] She spent some time as a writer-in-residence in Stuttgart, Germany, which inspired her to drop her unsold manuscript and write another novel, Half-Blood Blues, about a mixed-race jazz musician in World War II-era Europe who is abducted by the Nazis as a "Rhineland Bastard".[1]
Published in 2011, Half-Blood Blues was announced as a shortlisted nominee for that year's Man Booker Prize,[2] Scotiabank Giller Prize,[3] Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize[4] and Governor General's Award for English language fiction.[5] She was one of two Canadian writers, alongside Patrick deWitt, to make all four award lists in 2011.[3] On 8 November 2011, she won the Giller Prize for Half-Blood Blues.[6] Again alongside deWitt, Half-Blood Blues was also shortlisted for the 2012 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction.[7] In April 2012, it was announced that Edugyan had won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Half-Blood Blues.[8]
In 2014 she published her first work of non-fiction Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home with the University of Alberta Press.[9] In 2016 Edugyan was writer-in-residence at Athabasca University in Edmonton, Alberta.
Personal life
Edugyan lives in Victoria, British Columbia, and is married to novelist and poet Steven Price.[1]
Works
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne (2004)
- Half-Blood Blues (2011)
- Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home (2014)
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Writing the blues". Quill & Quire, July 2011.
- ↑ "Two Canadians Shortlisted for Man Booker". The Mark, 6 September 2011.
- 1 2 "DeWitt and Edugyan add Giller nods to Booker nominations". The Globe and Mail, 4 October 2011.
- ↑ John, Barber, "Booker nominees Edugyan, deWitt make shortlist for Writers' Trust prize". The Globe and Mail, 28 September 2011.
- ↑ "Edugyan, deWitt shortlisted for Governor General literary award". Toronto Star, 11 October 2011.
- ↑ "Esi Edugyan wins the Giller Prize". CBC News, 8 November 2011.
- ↑ "Edugyan and deWitt face off in yet another literary contest". The Globe and Mail, 4 April 2012.
- ↑ "The 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Award Winners Announced". Cleveland Public Library, 25 April 2012.
- ↑ "Spring preview 2014: non-fiction, part 2". Quill & Quire, 18 January 2014.