Shani Mootoo
Country
Canada
Birth - Death
1957 -
Occupation
Writer
Description
Author of fiction books, painter, and photographer. Explores in her writing the intersections between public and private spaces, questions of desire and identity, and the relations of these to the concept of family. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally, most notably at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Queen’s Museum in NYC, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, and at the Venice Biennale. Her photographs have been exhibited at Maison Depoivre in Prince Edward County, Canada. Her videos include 'English Lesson', 'Wild Woman in The Woods' and 'Her Sweetness Lingers,' and have been screened in film and video festivals and art exhibitions locally and internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Books include her short story collection 'Out on Main Street' (1992), 'Cereus Blooms at Night' (1996), her poetry collection 'The Predicament of Or' (2002), and the novels 'He Drown She in the Sea' (2005), 'Vamiki's Daughter' (2008), 'Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab' (2014), and 'Polar Vortex' (2020). Has been writer in residence at the University of Alberta, the University of Guelph and the University of the West Indies. Co-winner of the the Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize by the Lambda Literary organization. Visual artist.
Further Reading/Research
- https://www.shanimootoo.com/
- https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/mootoo/
- https://roommagazine.com/blog/rooms-2015-contest-judge-shani-mootoo
- https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2020/03/04/how-a-move-from-toronto-to-prince-edward-county-sparked-writer-shani-mootoos-metoo-novel.html
