David Chariandy

David Chariandy FRSC (he/him) is a writer and critic.  Author of the novels Soucouyant and Brother, and the epistolary memoir I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You: A Letter To My Daughter, his books have been widely discussed, translated into a dozen languages, and awarded the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Toronto Book Prize, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction.  As a critic, he has contributed substantially to the field of Black Canadian literature through articles, book chapters, publishing initiatives, and co-edited special issues of journals.  He is fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the editorial board of Brick: A literary journal.

Professor Chariandy’s goals are to support creative writing, to organize cultural events bridging the public/academic divide, and to deepen space for the study of Black, Caribbean, and Canadian literatures.  Having served on executive, steering, or advisory committees for the Writer’s Union of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Vancouver Public Library, the Public Lending Right Program, Broadview Press, and McClelland & Stewart, he remains committed to the shifting ecology of writing, publishing, and reading in Canada.

Pertinent Publications

Brother (Canada M&S, 2017 + 14 other territories)

 Selected Honours:

• Winner, Roger’s Writers’ Trust Award, 2017
• Winner, City of Toronto Book Prize, 2018
• Winner, Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, BC Book Prizes, 2018
• Winner, Premio LiberisLiber Narrativa [for fiction in Catalan], 2019.
• Finalist, Canada Reads, 2019
• Finalist, Aspen Words Prize (US), 2019
• Finaliste du Prix littéraire des lycéens et apprentis de la Région Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (France), 2019/20
• Nominee, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, 2019 (Fiction)
• Longlisted, Scotiabank Giller, Prize 2017
• Longlisted, PEN Open Book Award (US), 2018
• Longlisted, The Believer Book Awards for Fiction (US), 2019
• Longlisted, Canada Reads, 2018
• Longlisted, George Orwell Prize for Fiction (UK), 2019
• Longlisted, International Dublin Award, 2018
• Twelve ‘Book of the Year’ Lists, including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, The Montreal Gazette, CBC, the New York Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Esquire Magazine, and The Guardian.
• Film adaptation (Brother, 2022) by writer and director Clement Virgo.

Soucouyant (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007) + 4 other territories

 Selected Honours:

• Winner, ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for literary fiction from a North American independent press (US), 2007

• Runner up, Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe (France/Caribbean), 2012.  See http://www.tout-monde.com/prixcarbet2012.html
• Shortlisted, Governor General's Award for Fiction, 2007
• Shortlisted, Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book of Canada and the Caribbean, 2008
• Shortlisted Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize of the British Columbia Book Prizes, 2008
• Shortlisted, City of Toronto Book Award, 2008
• Shortlisted, "One Book, One Vancouver" of the Vancouver Public Library, 2008
• Shortlisted, Relit Award for best novel from a Canadian independent press, 2008
• Shortlisted, Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award, 2007
• Longlisted, Scotiabank Giller Prize, 2007
• Longlisted, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2009

Other publications

The Journey Prize Stories (2023): the Best of Canada’s New Black Writers (co-selected with Esi Edugyan and Canisia Lubrin)

Topia 46 (Spring 2023): A Map to the Door of No Return: A Gathering (co-edited with Andrea Davis, Marcelle-Anne Fletcher, Canisia Lubrin, Michelle Molubi-Johnson, and Christina Sharpe).  

Transition Magazine 124 (Fall 2017): “Writing Black Canadas.”  (special section co-edited with Phanuel Antwi.)