Francesca Ekwuyasi

Francesca Ekwuyasi is a Nigerian Canadian writer and artist.^[1] She is most noted for her debut novel Butter Honey Pig Bread, which was published in 2020.

Early life & career

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria,^[2] she is currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.^[1] In addition to her writing, she had an exhibition of paper cutout art at Halifax's The Khyber in 2019,^[1] and has directed short documentary films including Reconcile^[1] and Black & Belonging.^[2]

Butter Honey Pig Bread was selected for the 2021 edition of Canada Reads, where it was defended by celebrity chef Roger Mooking.^[3]^[4] The book was longlisted for the 2020 Giller Prize,^[5] and shortlisted for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction,^[6] the 2021 ReLit Award for Novel,^[7] the Amazon.ca First Novel Award^[8] and the 2020 Governor General's Award for English fiction.^[9] In 2022, it won the Dayne Ogilvie Prize.^[10]

She identifies as queer.^[2]

Year	Book	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2020	Butter Honey Pig Bread	Giller Prize	—	Longlisted	^[5]
2020		Governor General's Award	Fiction in English	Shortlisted	^[9]
2021		Amazon.ca First Novel Award	—	Shortlisted	^[8]
		CBC Canada Reads	—	Nominated	^[3]^[4]
		Lambda Literary Award	Lesbian Fiction	Shortlisted	^[6]
		ReLit Award	Novel	Shortlisted	^[7]
2022		Dayne Ogilvie Prize	—	Won	^[10]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jade Nauss, "Francesca Omolara Ekwuyasi moves from Penance to reconciliation". The Coast, November 28, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Proud to Shine on the East Coast". CBC News, July 16, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Meredith (March 8, 2021). "Entertainment: Butter Honey Pig Bread review". The Suburban Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ ^a ^b "Roger Mooking thinks Canada Reads will be like 'Reading Rainbow Gladiator'". CBC Books. January 21, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ ^a ^b "14 books make longlist for $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize". CBC Books. September 9, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ ^a ^b "Current Finalists". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
^ ^a ^b "ReL 2021 Award". Archived from the original on November 6, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Qiao, Vicky (May 28, 2021). "Five Little Indians by Michelle Good wins $60K Amazon First Novel Award". CBC Books. Archived from the original on 2021-05-28. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ ^a ^b "Past GGBooks winners and finalists". Governor General's Literary Awards. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ ^a ^b Deborah Dundas, "Writers’ Trust 2022 book award winners collect $270,000 in prizes" Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, November 2, 2022.