Esi Edugyan

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Esi Edugyan (2018)

Esi Edugyan (* 1978 in Calgary , Alberta ) is a Canadian writer with ancestors from Ghana who has won several prestigious literary awards . So she got for her second novel Half-Blood Blues 2011 the Scotiabank Giller Prize and in 2012 the the BC Book Prizes belonging Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award .

Life

Esi Edugyan was born in Calgary in 1978, the daughter of immigrants from Ghana. The father Kweku came to Canada to do his postdoc and worked in Alberta as a business analyst for the local government, the mother as a nurse in geriatrics . Later the father was to work as an electrical engineer. Esi Edugyan has two older siblings, a sister who works as a personal trainer and a brother who studied CAD. Edugyan grew up in Calgary and initially studied journalism for one semester from 1996 onwards. Due to her shyness, she then switched to English and creative writing with Jack Hodgins at the University of Victoria , where she also met her future husband, and at Johns Hopkins University . Other lecturers were Patrick Lane and Bill Gaston , who also discovered their talent. In 2001 she published a short story collection entitled The bone house and other stories , which was also her master's thesis .

Three years later she published her debut novel , The Second Life of Samuel Tyne , in which she described the immigrant life of the native Ghanaian Tyne in Canada. She also had a scholarship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart .

Although she received some good reviews for her first work, Edugyan initially struggled to find a publisher for her second manuscript . The publisher originally entrusted with it, Key Porter Books, ran into financial difficulties. So she considered studying law, if necessary, and then going to Iceland , France , Germany and Hungary for a few fellowships . Her stay as Writer in Residence in Stuttgart, where she also studied German, inspired her to write her novel Half-Blood Blues , about the multiracial jazz trumpeter Hieronymus Falk, who, together with the hot-time swingers in Berlin in the late 1930s, was secretly in the basement bars the forbidden "colored music" of swing plays. As the son of a German and an African father, he is also threatened with arrest by the Gestapo . With the appearance of the attractive American Delilah, who would like to invite Hiero's troupe to Paris to see Louis Armstrong for a music recording, his dreams for the future seem to come true - until they are caught up with by political events. Hiero is arrested by the National Socialists in 1940 and disappears without a trace. Fifty years later, Hiero's former friend and colleague Sid, who can now look back on a successful career himself, remembers what happened and reviews them in a mixture of German-English slang.

In her work, Edugyan highlighted the influence and support of artists in Europe: "The Europeans, especially the Germans and the French, are just amazing at supporting their artists, (...) [Artists] are almost hallowed." The Europeans, especially the Germans and French, are amazing at supporting their artists. They are mostly revered. ”She was enthusiastic about German culture:“ There are so many amazing things about the country: its reverence for the arts; its reverence for beauty and thought; the strains of philosophy. And the landscape: it's extremely beautiful. (...) Germany has such a heavy history. " - “There are some amazing things about this country: its references to the arts, its references to beauty and thought; its main features of philosophy. And the landscape: it is extremely beautiful. (...) Germany has such a difficult history. "

Half-Blood Blues , (dt. Play it again ) the 2011 appeared, stood by uniformly positive critic voices on the shortlist of the Man Booker Prize , Scotiabank Giller Prize , Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Award for English language fiction .

Together with Patrick deWitt , she was the only writer to be found on all four short lists. On November 8, 2011, she won the Giller Prize for Half-Blood Blues. She was presented at the award ceremony by pop singer Nelly Furtado . The jury found a graphic justification for awarding the prize to the work, which they compared to Louis Armstrong's West End Blues : “Imagine Mozart were a black German trumpet player and Salieri a bassist, and 18th century Vienna were WWII Paris; that's Esi Edugyan's joyful lament, Half-Blood Blues. It's conventional to like the prose in novels about jazz to the music itself, as though there could be no higher praise. In this case, say rather that any jazz musician would be happy to play the way Edugyan writes. ”-“ Imagine that Mozart were a black German trumpeter and Salieri were a bassist, Vienna in the 18th century would be Paris during of World War II. It is a truism that one compares the prose in the novel about jazz music with the very essence of this music, as if there was no higher appreciation. In this case, every jazz musician would be happy to play the way Edugyan writes. "

In addition, like deWitt's The Sisters Brothers , the book was nominated for the Walter Scott Prize 2012 for historical novels . There did not convince the jury, but won the BC Book Prizes belonging Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and Anisfield-Wolf Book Award . Her husband was also nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which was also a novelty in the literary world of Canada.

Her books have been translated into German , Dutch and Hungarian to date , with her debut novel being translated into the latter two, her collection of short stories and her second novel being translated into German.

Edugyan lives in Victoria , British Columbia with her husband, writer and poet Steven Price, and their daughter, who was born in 2011. She teaches creative writing at the University of Victoria.

Reviews

positive
  • "Half-Blood Blues itself represents a kind of flowering-that of a gifted storyteller." - "Half-Blood Blues presents itself as a kind of flower of a talented narrator."
  • "... a stunning, powerful read, a compelling story brilliantly told." (Quill and Quire) - "... stunning, powerful to read, a compelling story that is brilliantly told."
Differentiating
  • "And that's it: the Afro-German story is sidelined once again. In spite of this, Edugyan really can write, and the final chapter is redemptive. But if it's an Afro-German story you're after, then Hans Massaquoi 's extraordinary Destined to Witness: Growing up Black in Nazi Germany is a good place to start ”. - “And that's the point: Afro-German history is once again pushed aside. Nonetheless, Edugyan can really write and the final chapter is predominant. But if you really want to read an Afro-German story, Hans Massaquois Extraordinary Negro, Negro, Chimney Sweep is the right place to start. "
  • "Though" Half-Blood Blues "is a jazz book, its greatest strength lies more in the rhythms of its conversations and Griffiths' pitch-perfect voice than in any musical exchanges." - "Even if" Half-Blood Blues "is a jazz - The book is, its greatest strength lies more in the rhythm of its conversation and Griffith's perfectly struck voice than in any musical rendering. "

Works

Short stories:

Novels:

Items:

Awards and nominations

literature

  • Brenda Cooper: Diaspora, gender and identity: Twinning in three diasporic novels. In: English Academy Review, 25, no. 1, 2008, pp. 51-65
  • Amy Elisabeth Fuller: Contemporary authors new revision series. : Volume 192 a bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Gale, Detroit 2010 ISBN 978-1-4144-5673-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Donna Bailey Nurse: Writing the blues. In: Quill & Quire . July 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  2. ↑ Victoria writer Esi Edugyan wins the Ethel Wilson Fiction Award. ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Times Colonist. May 13, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.timescolonist.com
  3. ^ A b c Adrian Chamberlain: Esi Edugyan's sweet victories. How a Booker nomination and a Giller win changed the Victoria writer's life.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Montreal Gazette . March 23, 2012. Originally: The Ottawa Citizen . Retrieved July 7, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.montrealgazette.com  
  4. ↑ Interview with Esi Edugyan ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . on: themanbookerprize.com. Retrieved July 7, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.themanbookerprize.com
  5. ^ Mark Medley: Esi Edugyan wins 2011 Giller Prize for Half-Blood Blues. ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: National Post . November 8, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / arts.nationalpost.com
  6. ^ Two Canadians Shortlisted for Man Booker. ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: The Mark. September 6, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.themarknews.com
  7. ↑ a b DeWitt and Edugyan add Giller nods to Booker nominations. In: The Globe and Mail . October 4, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  8. ^ Booker nominees Edugyan, deWitt make shortlist for Writers' Trust prize. In: The Globe and Mail . September 28, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  9. ^ Edugyan, deWitt shortlisted for Governor General literary award. ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Toronto Star . October 11, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.toronto.com
  10. ↑ a b c Esi Edugyan wins the Giller Prize. In: CBC News . November 8, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  11. ↑ Edugyan and deWitt face off in yet another literary contest. In: The Globe and Mail . April 4, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  12. ^ Winner and nominee for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Award . on: www.bcbookprizes.ca. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  13. ↑ Mark Medley: Esi Edugyan to face husband Steven Price for Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: National Post . March 8, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / arts.nationalpost.com
  14. ↑ Barbara Carey: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. In: Toronto Star , September 10, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012
  15. ^ Robert J. Wiersema: Book Review. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. In: Quill & Quire . November 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012
  16. ↑ Quoted from www.thomasallen.ca . Retrieved July 6, 2012
  17. ↑ Bernardine Evaristo : Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan - review. What could have been a great Afro-German story has been sidelined. In: The Guardian . June 24, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  18. ↑ Chris Barton: Book review: 'Half-Blood Blues' by Esi Edugyan. In: Los Angeles Times , March 4, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012
  19. ^ Contribution to the annual Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, organized by the Canadian Literature Center in Edmonton. Review (Engl.)
  20. ^ Short biography Esi Edugyan. On: literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved July 7, 2012
  21. ↑ The Man Booker Prizes - Shortlisted ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 7, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.themanbookerprize.com
  22. ^ Esi Edugyan shortlisted for Orange Prize. Giller-winner a contender for British prize celebrating female novelists. In: CBC-News , April 17, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Edugyan, Esi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Calgary , Alberta