Photo Credit:
Photo credit
Rogene Reid
Zalika Reid-Benta
BIO
Biography

ZALIKA REID-BENTA is a Toronto-based writer. Her debut novel River Mumma was shortlisted for the 2024 Trillium Book Award and was listed as one of the best fiction books of 2023 on numerous platforms, such as CBC Books, Kobo Books, and The Walrus. River Mumma received starred reviews from publications such as Publishers Weekly, Booklist Magazine and Foreword Reviews. It is an Amazon Books Editors' Pick for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy and was the October 2023 pick for the CityLine Book Club.

Reid-Benta's debut story collection, Frying Plantain, won the 2020 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2020 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. Frying Plantain was shortlisted for numerous awards, such as the Toronto Book Award, the Trillium Book Award, the White Pine Award and the Evergreen Award.

Her picture book, The Twelve Days of Jamaican Christmas will be published in 2025.

ADDRESS
City: Toronto, Province/Territory: Ontario
EMAIL
GENRE
Fiction
PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Title
River Mumma
Publisher
Penguin Canada
Year
2023
Title
Frying Plantain
Publisher
House of Anansi Press
Year
2019
LINKS
Links
instagram
twitter
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
EQUITY INITIATIVE
As part of the Union’s Equity Implementation Plan, we are committed to increasing awareness of authors who are Black, Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQI2S, or living with a disability. This author identifies as:
Members who identify as:
Black, Indigenous, and/or racialized
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
Yes
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
Yes