Introducing Francesca Ekwuyasi #ReadAtlantic #2SLGBTQIA+ #VOICES

Francesca Ekwuyasi says of writing her first novel, Butter Honey Pig Bread, “It gave me a sense of purpose and it felt like a companion that I miss now. Just having this thing that I could always turn to and be like, ‘I love building this and I have a relationship with it.’ When it was published the relationship is different, because now other people get to know it.”

Ekwuyasi is a writer and multidisciplinary artist from Lagos, Nigeria. Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, consumption, loneliness, and belonging. Her debut novel, Butter Honey Pig Bread, published by Arsenal Pulp Press was longlisted for the 2020 Giller Prize, was a finalist for CBC’s 2021 Canada Reads competition, the 2021 Lambda Literary Award, the 2021 Governor General’s Award, the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and the 2021 ReLit Award. Most recently Butter Honey Pig Bread has been longlisted for the 2022 Dublin Literary Award.

In our 4th and final #ReadAtlantic #2SLGBTQIA+ #VOICES interview, she speaks with Tanya Davis about her experiences emigrating and immigrating, seeking love from community, and writing from the heart.

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