Nigerian-Canadian writer and artist francesca ekwuyasi is the 2024 Carol Shields Writer-in-Residence.
ekwuyasi’s residency, from February 5 to March 11, will take place online.
“I’m very excited to be the writer in residence and eagerly look forward to meeting UWinnipeg students and the wider community,” ekwuyasi said.
ekwuyasi is a learner, writer, and multidisciplinary artist from Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, Butter Honey Pig Bread, was awarded the 2022 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers. It was longlisted and shortlisted for numerous other awards, including the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, and the 2022 Dublin Literary Award. Forthcoming is Curious Sounds: A Dialogue in Three Movements, an experimental non-fiction collaboration with Roger Mooking.
Emerging writers, students, and community members are encouraged to reach out to ekwuyasi at f.ekwuyasi@uwinnipeg.ca for a free consultation about their writing during her residency.
ekwuyasi will do a reading and a Q&A via Zoom on Thursday, February 8 at 7 p.m. and she will deliver the Carol Shields Memorial Lecture via Zoom on Thursday, February 29 at 7 p.m.
“I am so excited for our students and community to meet francesca and work with her on their creative projects,” said Dr. Sandy Pool, Director, Carol Shields Residency Program.” As both a storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist, there is a great deal that francesca can contribute to our vibrant UWinnipeg writing community.”
UWinnipeg’s Carol Shields Writer-in-Residence program honours the memory of Carol Shields, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Chancellor of The University of Winnipeg from 1996 to 2000. Shields was known as a generous mentor to emerging writers. This program reflects her spirit and is a fitting tribute to her.
The past writers of the Carol Shields Writer-in-Residence program are as diverse as they are engaging. They include Souvankham Thammavongsa, Jordan Scott, Katherena Vermette, David Bergen, Méira Cook, Zoe Whittall, Margaret Sweatman, Sandra Birdsell, Maria Campbell, Ivan Coyote, Debbie Paterson, Gregory Scofield, Chandra Mayor, Jennifer Still, Rick Chafe, GMB Chomichuk, and Garry Thomas Morse.
