Alicia Elliott
Alicia Elliott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987 (age 36–37) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian, Tuscarora |
Alicia Elliott (born 1987 or 1988)[1] is a Tuscarora writer and editor.
Early life and education
[edit]Elliott was born in the United States and moved with her family to the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario when she was 13.[1] Although located in southern Ontario close to major cities, her home, like many others on the reserve, didn't have running water.[1] She attended high school in the nearby city of Brantford, graduating in 2005.[1]
Career
[edit]Elliott's first paid writing opportunity occurred in 2015 when she wrote an article about band elections for Briarpatch magazine titled "The Meaning of Elections for Six Nations".[2] In 2016, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson asked Elliott to contribute to the issue of The Malahat Review she was editing.[2] Elliott's essay, "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground", went on to win a National Magazine Award, a prize that Elliot credits with kickstarting her career.[2][3]
The next year, Elliott was selected by Tanya Talaga to receive the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award, which includes a cash prize and a mentorship component.[4] A collection of Elliott's essays, also titled A Mind Spread Out On The Ground, was published by Penguin Random House in 2019.[5]
From 2017-2018 she was the Geoffrey and Margaret Andrew Fellow at the University of British Columbia.[6] She was selected as the first mentor-in-residence for Canadian feminist literary journal Room and currently[when?] serves as the creative nonfiction editor at The Fiddlehead.[6]
In addition to her essays, Elliott has written for newspapers and magazines including The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, Maisonneuve, Today's Parent and Reader's Digest.[4]
In 2023 she published her debut novel, And Then She Fell.[7] The book was the winner of the 2024 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.[8]
Selected works
[edit]Short stories
[edit]Essays
[edit]- "On Seeing and Being Seen: The Difference Between Writing With Empathy and Writing With Love," Room, 2018.[11]
- "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground," The Malahat Review, Winter 2016.[12]
- "The Meaning of Elections for Six Nations," Briarpatch, 2016.
Awards and honours
[edit]- Gold prize at the National Magazine Awards for "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground" (2017).[3]
- RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award (2018).[4]
- "Unearth" was selected to appear in The Best American Short Stories 2018 collection.[10]
- "Tracks" was selected to appear in the Best Canadian Stories 2018.[6]
- Longlist, Journey Prize for Short Fiction for "Tracks", 2018.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Elliott, Alicia (29 April 2019). "'I Wanted to Be Beautiful—Or, at Least, Clean': What It's Like To Grow Up Without Running Water". Chatelaine.
- ^ a b c Singh, Katherine (30 September 2018). "How I Made It: Alicia Elliott, Writer". Flare.
- ^ a b Johns, Jessica (3 July 2017). "Get to Know: Alicia Elliott". Prism.
- ^ a b c Wheeler, Brad (3 May 2018). "Alicia Elliott wins RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Carter, Sue (21 March 2019). "Haudenosaunee author Alicia Elliott explores how our actions ripple for generations into the future". The Star.
- ^ a b c Johns, Jessica. "An Interview with Alicia Elliott: Room's First Mentor-in-Residence". Room. The West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Drew Hayden Taylor, "Alicia Elliott’s debut novel brings unique edge to contemporary Indigenous literature". The Globe and Mail, October 18, 2023.
- ^ Attila Berki, "Alicia Elliott wins 2024 Amazon Canada First Novel Award". Quill & Quire, June 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Patrick, Ryan B. (July 14, 2017). "12 writers make 2018 longlist for $10K Journey Prize for short fiction". CBC Books. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ a b "Contributor News: Alicia Elliott Story to Appear in The Best American Short Stories 2018". Grain. Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. March 20, 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Elliott, Alicia. "On Seeing and Being Seen: The Difference Between Writing With Empathy and Writing With Love". Room. The West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Elliott, Alicia (Winter 2016). "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground" (PDF). The Malahat Review.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1988 births
- Living people
- 21st-century Canadian essayists
- 21st-century Canadian women writers
- 21st-century Canadian novelists
- 21st-century First Nations writers
- Canadian women essayists
- Canadian women novelists
- First Nations women writers
- Tuscarora people
- Iroquois women
- First Nations novelists
- Six Nations of the Grand River people
- Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners