Francesca Ekwuyasi &Billy-Ray Belcourt among Canadian finalists for 2021 Lambda Literary Awards

Francesca Ekwuyasi, Vivek Shraya andBilly-Ray Belcourtare among the Canadians nominated for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards.

The Lambda Literary Awards annually celebrate the best in LGBTQ literature from around the world. There are nineCanadian books nominated across 24 categories.

Francesca Ekwuyasi is a finalist in the lesbian fiction category for her debut novelButter Honey Pig Bread.

Butter Honey Pig Breadtells the interwoven stories of twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi is convinced she was born an ogbanje, a spirit that plagues families with misfortune by dying in childhood to cause its mother misery.When the estranged women meet years later, they confront their past and find forgiveness through food from their childhood.

Butter Honey Pig Breadwas on the2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist.

It was championed on Canada Reads 2021 by chef, TV host and recording artist Roger Mooking.

• Francesca Ekwuyasi explored food and forgiveness in her first book

Ekwuyasi is an artistand filmmaker, born in Lagos, Nigeria and currently living in Halifax.Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, lonelinessand belonging.

The Next Chapter13:46Francesca Ekwuyasi on Butter Honey Pig Bread

Francesca Ekwuyasi on her Canada Reads 2021 book, Butter Honey Pig Bread

Vivek Shraya is a finalist in the transgender fiction category for The Subtweet.

InTheSubtweet, Neela Devaki's song is covered by internet-famous artist Rukmini. Whenthe two musicians meet,a transformative friendship begins. But, as Rukmini's star rises, jealousy creeps in, and Neelasends out a highly-destructive tweet thatblows up theirfriendship.

• Vivek Shraya on the power of unpacking pain and writing with urgency

Shraya is a writer, artist and musicianfrom Alberta. Her booksinclude the novelShe of the Mountains, the poetry collectioneven this page is white,the essayI'm Afraid of Menand the comic bookDeath Threat.

Billy-Ray Belcourt is a finalist in the gay memoir/biography category of A History of My Brief Body.

A History of My Brief Bodytells Belcourt's story: how his family was impacted by colonialism and intergenerational trauma and yet still hold joy and love in their hearts and lives, how he came into his queer identity and how writing became both a place of comfort and solace and a weapon for a young man trying to figure out his place in the world.

• Billy-Ray Belcourtfelt more empowered after winning the Griffin Prize

Belcourt is a Rhodes Scholar and PhD student from Driftpile Cree Nation in Alberta. His debut collection of poetry,This Wound is a World,won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is also the author of the poetry collectionNDN Coping Mechanisms.

The anthology Love After the End, edited by Joshua Whitehead is a finalistin the LGBTQ anthology category.

Love after the Endis an anthology of speculative fiction that imagines a utopian future for LGBTQ and two-spirit people, curated and edited by poet and novelistJoshua Whitehead.

Contributors includeNathan Adler, Darcie Little Badger, Gabriel Castilloux Calderon, Adam Garnet Jones, Mari Kurisato, Kai Minosh Pyle, David Alexander Robertson, jaye simpson and Nazbah Tom.

• Joshua Whitehead on poetry's radical, survivalist nature

Whiteheadis anOji-nhiyaw, two-spirit writer, poet and Indigiqueerscholar from Peguis First Nation. His debut novel JonnyAppleseedwon Canada Reads 2021, where it was championed by Mohawk actor and filmmaker Devery Jacobs.

Here are all the Canadians nominated for the 2021Lambda Literary Awards:

Lesbian fiction

• Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi

Gay memoir/biography

• A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt

LGBTQ anthology

• Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead
• Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement, edited byLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-SamarasinhaandEjeris Dixon

Bisexual poetry

• sick by Jody Chan

LGBTQ erotica

• The Nerves by Lena Suski andSmut Peddlers
• Glad Day 50 byKel Hardy, Tianna Henry andMJ Lyons

LGBTQmystery

• I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan

LGBTQstudies

• Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies byCait McKinney

You can see the complete list of finalists on the Lambda Literary Awards' website.

The winners will be announced on June 1.

Last year's winners included Samra Habib, who won thelesbian memoir/biography category for her memoir We Have Always Been Here, andHazel Jane Plante, who won thetransgender fiction forThe Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian).