Shauntay Grant facts for kids

Shauntay Grant is a Canadian writer who creates books, poems, and plays. She is also a professor. From 2009 to 2011, she was the third poet laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia. This means she was the official poet for the city.

Shauntay Grant is well-known for her children's picture book, Africville. This book tells the story of a Black community in Halifax that was sadly torn down by the city in the 1960s. Africville was nominated for a big award, the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award. It also won the 2019 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Plus, it was named one of the best international picture books in 2019 by the United States Board on Books for Young People.

Early Life and Learning

Shauntay Grant was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She studied music at Dalhousie University. She also earned a degree in journalism from the University of King's College.

Her Writing Career

Shauntay Grant started publishing her work after a senior editor named Sandra McIntyre heard her read a poem. This happened at an event where Shauntay shared a poem she wrote when she was a teenager. The poem was called "Remember Preston." It was about her childhood experiences in North Preston.

Sandra McIntyre suggested that Shauntay turn the poem into a children's book. This book, called Up Home, was released in 2008. Shauntay's next two books, The City Speaks In Drums (2010) and Apples and Butterflies (2012), were also based on poems she had written.

While she was Halifax's Poet Laureate, Shauntay Grant helped organize the first national meeting for Canadian Poets Laureate. This important event took place in 2010.

In 2019, Shauntay Grant's play, The Bridge, was performed for the first time at Neptune Theatre in Halifax. She worked on this play for several years. The Bridge is about two brothers who are not speaking to each other in a rural Black community in Nova Scotia. Shauntay won an award for The Bridge in 2020 for being the Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian.

In 2020, her board book for young children, My Hair is Beautiful, was chosen as one of the best books of the year by a popular children's book reviewer.

Shauntay Grant used to host a national radio show about poetry called Poetry Face-Off. She also hosted a regional music show called All The Best. Today, she is a professor at Dalhousie University. There, she teaches students how to write creatively.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Shauntay Grant has received many awards for her writing:

• Established Artist Award, Arts Nova Scotia. (2020)
• Outstanding New Play, Robert Merritt Awards. (2020)
• Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Canadian Children's Book Awards. (2019)
• Governor General's Literary Awards, finalist Canadian Children's Book Awards. (2019)
• Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards finalist. (2019)
• Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Writing and Publishing, Canada Council for the Arts. (2015)
• Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature finalist, Atlantic Book Awards. (2011)
• Jury Award for Outstanding Drama, Atlantic Fringe Festival. (2011)
• Poet of Honour, Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. (2010)
• Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award finalist. (2010)
• Best Atlantic Published Book Award, Atlantic Book Awards. (2009)

Her Published Works

Plays

• The Bridge Toronto: Playwrights Canada Press. (2021)

Spoken Word

• The City Speaks In Drums. Halifax: Wordrhythm, 2010.
• Say Sumthin. Halifax: Wordrhythm, 2014.