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Alicia Elliott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alicia Elliott
Born1987 (age 36–37)
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian, Tuscarora

Alicia Elliott (born 1987 or 1988)[1] is a Tuscarora writer and editor.

Early life and education

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Elliott was born in the United States and moved with her family to the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario when she was 13.[1] Although located in southern Ontario close to major cities, her home, like many others on the reserve, didn't have running water.[1] She attended high school in the nearby city of Brantford, graduating in 2005.[1]

Career

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Elliott's first paid writing opportunity occurred in 2015 when she wrote an article about band elections for Briarpatch magazine titled "The Meaning of Elections for Six Nations".[2] In 2016, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson asked Elliott to contribute to the issue of The Malahat Review she was editing.[2] Elliott's essay, "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground", went on to win a National Magazine Award, a prize that Elliot credits with kickstarting her career.[2][3]

The next year, Elliott was selected by Tanya Talaga to receive the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award, which includes a cash prize and a mentorship component.[4] A collection of Elliott's essays, also titled A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, was published by Penguin Random House in 2019.[5]

From 2017-2018 she was the Geoffrey and Margaret Andrew Fellow at the University of British Columbia.[6] She was selected as the first mentor-in-residence for Canadian feminist literary journal Room and currently[when?] serves as the creative nonfiction editor at The Fiddlehead.[6]

In addition to her essays, Elliott has written for newspapers and magazines including The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, Maisonneuve, Today's Parent and Reader's Digest.[4]

In 2023 she published her debut novel, And Then She Fell.[7] The book was the winner of the 2024 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.[8]

Awards and honours

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Selected works

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Novel

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  • And Then She Fell (2023)

Collections

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  • A Mind Spread Out on the Ground (2018)

Short stories

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  • "Tracks," The New Quarterly, Winter 2017.[10]
  • "Unearth," Grain issue 44.3, Spring 2017.[9]

Essays

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  • "A Mind Spread Out on the Ground," The Malahat Review, Winter 2016.[11]
  • "The Meaning of Elections for Six Nations," Briarpatch, 2016.
  • "On Seeing and Being Seen: The Difference Between Writing With Empathy and Writing with Love," Room, 2018.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Elliott, Alicia (29 April 2019). "'I Wanted to Be Beautiful—Or, at Least, Clean': What It's Like To Grow Up Without Running Water". Chatelaine.
  2. ^ a b c Singh, Katherine (30 September 2018). "How I Made It: Alicia Elliott, Writer". Flare.
  3. ^ a b Johns, Jessica (3 July 2017). "Get to Know: Alicia Elliott". Prism.
  4. ^ a b c Wheeler, Brad (3 May 2018). "Alicia Elliott wins RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award". The Globe and Mail.
  5. ^ Carter, Sue (21 March 2019). "Haudenosaunee author Alicia Elliott explores how our actions ripple for generations into the future". The Star.
  6. ^ a b c Johns, Jessica. "An Interview with Alicia Elliott: Room's First Mentor-in-Residence". Room. The West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  7. ^ Drew Hayden Taylor, "Alicia Elliott’s debut novel brings unique edge to contemporary Indigenous literature". The Globe and Mail, October 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Attila Berki, "Alicia Elliott wins 2024 Amazon Canada First Novel Award". Quill & Quire, June 7, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Contributor News: Alicia Elliott Story to Appear in The Best American Short Stories 2018". Grain. Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. March 20, 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  10. ^ a b Patrick, Ryan B. (July 14, 2017). "12 writers make 2018 longlist for $10K Journey Prize for short fiction". CBC Books. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  11. ^ Elliott, Alicia (Winter 2016). "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground" (PDF). The Malahat Review.
  12. ^ Elliott, Alicia. "On Seeing and Being Seen: The Difference Between Writing With Empathy and Writing With Love". Room. The West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society. Retrieved 2019-10-07.