Thumbs up for Shut Up
September 30th, 2019
Téa Mutonji’s debut story collection, Shut Up You’re Pretty (VS. Books $17.95), not only gets our vote for best ‘title’ of the year; it’s the only published-in-B.C. contender for either the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize or the Giller. It’s the inaugural release from Arsenal Pulp Press’s new VS. Books imprint, curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of colour. Born in Congo-Kinshasa, Mutonji of Scarborough reflects life within Congolese traditions and the challenges of being a Congolese immigrant “interrogating the moments in which femininity, womanness, and identity are not only questioned but imposed.” Of the 117 works submitted for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize, all six shortlisted authors were published from Ontario (including three British Columbians associated with Creative Writing Departments: Alix Ohlin, Steven Price, Ian Williams). 978-1551527550
Leave a Reply