Esi Edugyan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Esi Edugyan
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Edugyan reading at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2018
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| Born | 1978 (age 46–47) Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | University of Victoria (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MA) |
| Period | 2004–present |
| Notable works | Half-Blood Blues (2011); Washington Black (2018) |
| Notable awards | Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 Half-Blood Blues Anisfield-Wolf Book Award 2012 Half-Blood Blues Scotiabank Giller Prize 2018 Washington Black |
| Spouse | Steven Price |
| Children | 2 |
Esi Edugyan (born in 1978) is a talented Canadian writer. She is famous for her novels, which have won the prestigious Giller Prize twice. Her award-winning books are Half-Blood Blues (published in 2011) and Washington Black (published in 2018).
Contents
About Esi Edugyan
Early Life and Education
Esi Edugyan was born and grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Her parents came from Ghana. She loved writing and studied creative writing at the University of Victoria. Later, she earned a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Her First Books
Esi Edugyan's first novel was The Second Life of Samuel Tyne. She wrote it when she was just 24 years old, and it was published in 2004. This book was even nominated for an award called the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in 2005.
After her first book, Esi had a bit of a challenge. It was hard to find a publisher for her next story. She spent some time living in Stuttgart, Germany, as a writer. This experience gave her a new idea for a book. She decided to write a different story instead.
Half-Blood Blues and Major Awards
Her new idea became the novel Half-Blood Blues. This book is about a young mixed-race jazz musician named Hieronymus Falk. He is part of a jazz group in Berlin between the two World Wars. The story explores what happens when Hieronymus is taken by the Nazis because of his mixed heritage. Some of his fellow musicians escape to Paris when World War II begins. Years later, they meet again in Europe.
When Half-Blood Blues was published in 2011, it became very popular. It was nominated for many important awards, including the Man Booker Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. On November 8, 2011, Esi Edugyan won the Giller Prize for Half-Blood Blues. The book also won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 2012.
Non-Fiction and Later Works
In 2014, Esi Edugyan published her first non-fiction book. It was called Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home. This book shared her thoughts on what "home" means.
Her third novel, Washington Black, came out in September 2018. This book was also a huge success! In November 2018, Esi won the Giller Prize again for Washington Black. This made her one of only three writers ever to win the award twice. Washington Black was also nominated for the Man Booker Prize and other awards. In 2022, it was chosen for Canada Reads, a popular book competition.
In 2019, Esi Edugyan's writing was included in an important collection called New Daughters of Africa. In 2021, she gave a series of lectures for CBC Radio called the Massey Lectures. These lectures were later published as a book titled Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling.
In 2023, Esi Edugyan was chosen to lead the jury for the prestigious Booker Prize. This shows how respected she is in the world of literature.
Personal Life
Esi Edugyan lives in Victoria, British Columbia. She is married to Steven Price, who is also a novelist and poet. They met when they were both students at the University of Victoria. They have two children. Their first child was born in 2011, and their second in 2014.
Books by Esi Edugyan
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne (2004)
- Half-Blood Blues (2011)
- Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home (2014)
- Washington Black (2018)
