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Canadian author David Chariandy, one of two winners in this year's fiction category, is Canada's fifth recipient.
J. P. MOCZULSKI / The Globe and Mail
At first he thought it was a nasty joke. David Chariandy was in the archives of the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, and was researching his next novel. He was reading about sugar culture in the 19th century when a Windham-Campbell awards e-mail arrived, asking him to call about good news. Chariandy cleared it as a joke. But two or three hours later, his curiosity carried him away and he pbaded the call.
It was then that the author of Scarborough discovered that his work had earned him the Windham-Campbell Fiction Prize this year. the most prestigious literary awards in the world and one of the richest in the world – each laureate receives US $ 165,000, or nearly a quarter of a million dollars in Canadian dollars.
"Offering a vision that is both human and extremely tender, David Chariandy explains how gestures and details articulate the revelations of mourning and the intimacies found in social spaces that are disturbed and in the process of being skewed. fray, "says the quote," does not apply and ignores that they were even nominated.The news is only delivered after the decision has been made. "The price was created in 2013 with a gift from writer Donald Windham, in memoriam of his partner, Sandy Campbell, Campbell died in 1988, leaving his estate in Windham.For many years together they had been talking about creating a prize to support writers.The result, the Windham-Campbell Awards, is administered by Yale University.They are open to English-speaking writers from around the world who have published at least one book or made to play a play by r a professional
This is a three-step selection process, which begins with a group of candidates whose identity is not revealed. . They are usually writers, critics, academics, booksellers, librarians, editors, theater producers and directors. The jurors in each category are chosen by the jurors and the finalists' names by the prize selection committee.
Brother, Chariandy's second novel, won the Rogers Writers' Trust Prize 2017 and the Toronto Book Award 2018, This year, Chariandy, one of two laureates of the fiction category (with Irish writer Danielle McLaughlin), is the fifth Canadian laureate, after Lorna Goodison, Hannah Moscovitch and Andre. Alexis and John Vaillant
Chariandy, 49, was born and raised in Toronto. He lives in Vancouver where he is a professor of English Literature at Simon Fraser University. His first novel Soucouyant published in 2007, was nominated for 11 literary prizes, including the Governor General's Literary Award. His second novel, Brother won the Rogers Writers' Trust 2017 Fiction Prize and the Toronto Book Award 2018, and is a candidate for Canada Reads on CBC this year. year.
He recently published a memoir. , I wanted to tell you: a letter to my daughter that deals with racial and family backgrounds. His parents were immigrants from Trinidad – his mother is black and of African descent and his father is South Asian. Chariandy is currently working on a novel of three different stories that explore the complex relationships between people of African and South Asian descent. "It's the story of my parents, in a way," he explains.
That day, in the archives, he was investigating the role of newly emancipated blacks and South Asian subcontractors in the sugar industry. had won the prize. "Honestly, I still did not believe it. I thought that good, someone could go to the next level [of the prank] which was just a number [phone]. So, I half believed it and the other half did not know it. "
About a week later, he received an official letter stating the amount in dollars.
The story continues under the announcement
"I was stunned," says Chariandy, who is not usually short of words. "Total, total shock. Because this figure translates into the time that one can devote to writing. And for someone who is entirely dedicated to writing, it's a gift of indescribable significance.
Chariandy discusses his schedule with SFU in order to have enough time to work on the novel. "This new novel fills me with imagination and I would like more than anything in the world to get there in a very focused and sustained way," says Chariandy, who has been working on it since 2017. "It's really a great thing. The opportunity of a lifetime. And I really want to make the most of it.
Chariandy will participate in the 2019 Windham-Campbell Prize Literary Festival, Sept. 18-20, in Yale. All events are free and open to the public.
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