Shut Up You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji: Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalist
We're thrilled that Shut Up You're Pretty, the debut story collection by Téa Mutonji, has been shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize!
Shut Up You're Pretty is the first book to be published under the VS. Books imprint. VS. Books, curated and edited by acclaimed writer/artist/musician Vivek Shraya, is dedicated to new and emerging black and Indigenous writers and writers of colour.
About the book, the prize jury wrote: "In writing marked by bursts of intense language, Mutonji takes the reader into her nuanced study of a young Congolese immigrant, always refusing to look away from pain and uncertainty. Driven by its crisp, unsettling dialogue and meticulous psychological detail, this is a compelling work about the fear and yearning of our youth."
The $50,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize is one of Canada's most lucrative and well-respected awards for fiction. Also shortlisted this year are Days of Moonlight by Andre Alexis (Coach House Books), Season of Fury and Wonder by Sharon Butala (Coteau Books), The Innocents by Michael Crummey (Doubleday Canada), and Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin (House of Anansi). (We're particularly stoked that 4 of the 5 finalists are published by indie presses!)
Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and publishers!
