Esi Edugyan
Author of Washington Black
About the Author
Image credit: wikimedia.org
Works by Esi Edugyan
Associated Works
The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic (2020) — Contributor — 157 copies, 5 reviews
New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (2019) — Contributor — 114 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1978
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Johns Hopkins University (MA ∙ Writing Seminars)
University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - Occupations
- novelist
- Awards and honors
- Giller Prize (2011|2018)
- Relationships
- Price, Steven (husband)
- Nationality
- Canada
- Birthplace
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Places of residence
- Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Associated Place (for map)
- Canada
Members
Discussions
2018 Booker Prize Longlist: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan in Booker Prize (July 2018)
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan in Booker Prize (September 2011)
Reviews
(6) This was lovely. Washington Black is an 11 year old orphan slave boy in Barbados on a sugar cane plantation in the mid 1800's when he is selected as a manservant to the Master's brother who has come to visit. Christopher Wilde "Titch" is a English gentleman scientist who fashions himself after his eccentric father on expedition in the Arctic. He takes Wash in and teaches him to read and measure and record observations. They build a flying machine (seemingly a hot-air balloon - 'the show more Cloud-cutter;) Wash turns out to be a talented illustrator and then tragedy strikes. I will say no more but Wash is plunged into a 'freedom' of sorts where he becomes hunted and haunted by his past. He is 1/2 English gentleman, and half escaped teenage slave and an utterly lovely unforgettable character.
The writing is sensational and evocative. The dialogue was well-done and pulled at the heart strings and imagination. It wasn't just story-telling - indeed there is more gravitas regarding identity formation and the nature of freedom. Some scenes are burned in my brain - The flight of the Cloud cutter, drawing in the tide pool and meeting Tanna, the octopus, the Arctic igloo . . . It was such an adventure and quite engaging. At the same time though, I admired the structure because it was a bit meandering without a clear cut beginning, middle, end - much like life. So while the goings on seemed almost cinematic, the narrative was more true to life. Sometimes life takes random turns and things just happen for no good reason. Though perhaps 'things just happening for no good reason' explain my dissatisfaction with the ending. In so many ways I respect an ending that is ambiguous more so than one that is like a fable. So I get it, but it was a bit of a let down accounting for the 1/2 star off - I wanted more. I guess, so did Wash.
Anyway, this was fantastic. In style, it most reminded me of 'All the Light we Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr or John Boyne's 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' - recent favorites of mine with a strong sense of history and place that describe the coming of age of exceptional children. Highly recommended for lovers of literary fiction that like historical settings. show less
The writing is sensational and evocative. The dialogue was well-done and pulled at the heart strings and imagination. It wasn't just story-telling - indeed there is more gravitas regarding identity formation and the nature of freedom. Some scenes are burned in my brain - The flight of the Cloud cutter, drawing in the tide pool and meeting Tanna, the octopus, the Arctic igloo . . . It was such an adventure and quite engaging. At the same time though, I admired the structure because it was a bit meandering without a clear cut beginning, middle, end - much like life. So while the goings on seemed almost cinematic, the narrative was more true to life. Sometimes life takes random turns and things just happen for no good reason. Though perhaps 'things just happening for no good reason' explain my dissatisfaction with the ending. In so many ways I respect an ending that is ambiguous more so than one that is like a fable. So I get it, but it was a bit of a let down accounting for the 1/2 star off - I wanted more. I guess, so did Wash.
Anyway, this was fantastic. In style, it most reminded me of 'All the Light we Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr or John Boyne's 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' - recent favorites of mine with a strong sense of history and place that describe the coming of age of exceptional children. Highly recommended for lovers of literary fiction that like historical settings. show less
In five essays, Edugyan explores the ways in which race is portrayed in art and storytelling all around the world.
She begins with art in Europe, investigating the ways that Black people were portrayed in paintings (when they were at all), such as using symbols to show the "other". "Canada and the Art of Ghosts" was an interesting look at the ghost stories that do - and don't - get told, what we are collectively afraid of and what we allow to be forgotten.
I was particularly struck by the show more middle essay, "America and the Art of Empathy", in which she takes on the idea of transracialism, briefly talking about "passing," but spending more of her time on folks such as Rachel Dolezal who was born white but self-identifies as Black. There was a lot to chew on there, and I highlighted this quote:
Finally, in "Africa and the Art of the Future" she talks about Afrofuturism and her experience watching Black Panther, and "Asia and the Art of Storytelling" (possibly the weakest of the bunch, but still good) details her own story of traveling Asia and the challenging relationship China and Japan have with race, particularly in accepting Black people and why their attitudes are what they are.
There is a lot to unpack in this fairly slim book, but it's well worth the effort. show less
She begins with art in Europe, investigating the ways that Black people were portrayed in paintings (when they were at all), such as using symbols to show the "other". "Canada and the Art of Ghosts" was an interesting look at the ghost stories that do - and don't - get told, what we are collectively afraid of and what we allow to be forgotten.
I was particularly struck by the show more middle essay, "America and the Art of Empathy", in which she takes on the idea of transracialism, briefly talking about "passing," but spending more of her time on folks such as Rachel Dolezal who was born white but self-identifies as Black. There was a lot to chew on there, and I highlighted this quote:
Perhaps all our arguments around transracialism come down to a larger social disconnect between the individual freedoms we all cherish and the authenticity we now demand of everything. We want to everyone to be able to live out exactly the lives they wish, for our children to grow up to be anything, for everyone to be free to experience their true selves. But we are also living now in a time when the concept of identity is fragile, and we put great stock in absolute authenticity. We ask that art transport us to places and into lives we could not have otherwise fathomed, but we also put fences around those imaginative acts, by demanding, for example, that only gay actors play gay roles, or that only Black writers write Black characters.That resonates a lot with me, as it's a tension I find in my reading. I want to read diversely, and sometimes that means I notice when a book is all-white characters, but a lot of the time it means that I'm purposely seeking out books by people who are Black or Asian American or Latinx, and yes, I do look for a certain "authenticity" in that I don't want all the diverse stories I read to be written from a white lens. But, at the same time, I do think that a creative act should allow a writer to write about things they have not personally experienced. It can be a fine line to walk sometimes, and the lack of diversity in publishing with the decision-makers adds another layer to this.
Finally, in "Africa and the Art of the Future" she talks about Afrofuturism and her experience watching Black Panther, and "Asia and the Art of Storytelling" (possibly the weakest of the bunch, but still good) details her own story of traveling Asia and the challenging relationship China and Japan have with race, particularly in accepting Black people and why their attitudes are what they are.
There is a lot to unpack in this fairly slim book, but it's well worth the effort. show less
This is an exuberant, rollicking page-turner of a novel, a sprawling adventure of a runaway slave and an epic journey from Barbados, to America and London and Amsterdam, ending in the Moroccan desert. Longlisted for this year’s Man Booker, this is a rewarding read.
Set in the 1830s, this is the story of George Washington Black (‘Wash’), on the run accompanied by the brother of his former plantation owner. A bounty on his head, he feels pursued on a relentless journey, until Christopher, show more the brother, himself disappears in a blizzard in Arctic Canada. The mirroring of the narrative now sees Wash continue to search for his former saviour as he continues to be pursued. The book touches on education as an escape – Wash finds solace and reward in his painting, is taught to read and write, and finds wonder in science and nature. There are obvious issues of family, as Wash finally learns the identity of his mother in plantation records housed in London after slavery has been abolished in his homeland. And, obviously and centrally, the book deals with slavery, about ownership, and about identity. Edugyan resists the temptation to give us a nice, neat reconciliation by the end of the book. There is a space, words unspoken, no final understanding between the former slave and the figure of Titch: ‘life had never belonged to any of us’.
There are moments of real emotion, as Wash meditates on what his mother must have felt and thought as she was transported from Africa on a slave ship, and the issues at the heart of the novel obviously ring true today, still, as we continue to struggle with the lessons of history and the fight for equality that continues. A big, bold story that deals with big issues, I felt this definitely deserves its place on the longlist. A 4 star recommend.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.) show less
Set in the 1830s, this is the story of George Washington Black (‘Wash’), on the run accompanied by the brother of his former plantation owner. A bounty on his head, he feels pursued on a relentless journey, until Christopher, show more the brother, himself disappears in a blizzard in Arctic Canada. The mirroring of the narrative now sees Wash continue to search for his former saviour as he continues to be pursued. The book touches on education as an escape – Wash finds solace and reward in his painting, is taught to read and write, and finds wonder in science and nature. There are obvious issues of family, as Wash finally learns the identity of his mother in plantation records housed in London after slavery has been abolished in his homeland. And, obviously and centrally, the book deals with slavery, about ownership, and about identity. Edugyan resists the temptation to give us a nice, neat reconciliation by the end of the book. There is a space, words unspoken, no final understanding between the former slave and the figure of Titch: ‘life had never belonged to any of us’.
There are moments of real emotion, as Wash meditates on what his mother must have felt and thought as she was transported from Africa on a slave ship, and the issues at the heart of the novel obviously ring true today, still, as we continue to struggle with the lessons of history and the fight for equality that continues. A big, bold story that deals with big issues, I felt this definitely deserves its place on the longlist. A 4 star recommend.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.) show less
George Washington Black, also known as Wash, is a young slave on a plantation in Barbados. His drawing ability catches the eye of the slaveowner’s brother Titch, and he begins to work as Titch’s assistant in his scientific and naturalist adventures. When Titch’s cousin commits suicide and Wash is likely to be blamed, the two escape the island on a flying machine. They head to a research camp in northern Canada, from where they have just received word that Titch’s father has died show more (though Titch doesn’t believe it). They reach Canada, but things don’t go as expected. Years later, Wash thinks of Titch and begins drawing again, which attracts the interest of a young white woman he meets on the beach in Nova Scotia
I had high expectations for this book and it didn’t really meet them. It wasn’t fantastical enough (the flying machine at the beginning only flies a few miles before falling into the ocean) but also wasn’t grounded enough. Titch’s father has been living in remote northern Canada for years with no issues, Wash just happens to be the first person to invent an aquarium (a couple years before they were actually invented), Wash and Tanna can travel together all over England, Europe, and north Africa as an unmarried interracial couple, multiple people fake their own death. It all strained credulity. The narrative was disjointed, with the first half taking place over a few months, then a gap of 4 years in which Wash claims he never thought about what happened, and then the book resumes with him thinking about Titch again. The characters felt really flat and inconsistent (Titch and Tanna in particular) and I was disappointed that Wash, who seemed to feel so much longing for family and to be someone’s equal, never tried to set his own course or find other people of color. He just went along with whatever other people did. It was enjoyable enough while I was reading it but never cohered into something I found meaningful or memorable. show less
I had high expectations for this book and it didn’t really meet them. It wasn’t fantastical enough (the flying machine at the beginning only flies a few miles before falling into the ocean) but also wasn’t grounded enough. Titch’s father has been living in remote northern Canada for years with no issues, Wash just happens to be the first person to invent an aquarium (a couple years before they were actually invented), Wash and Tanna can travel together all over England, Europe, and north Africa as an unmarried interracial couple, multiple people fake their own death. It all strained credulity. The narrative was disjointed, with the first half taking place over a few months, then a gap of 4 years in which Wash claims he never thought about what happened, and then the book resumes with him thinking about Titch again. The characters felt really flat and inconsistent (Titch and Tanna in particular) and I was disappointed that Wash, who seemed to feel so much longing for family and to be someone’s equal, never tried to set his own course or find other people of color. He just went along with whatever other people did. It was enjoyable enough while I was reading it but never cohered into something I found meaningful or memorable. show less
Lists
World Books (1)
Female Author (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 9
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 4,652
- Popularity
- #5,425
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 258
- ISBNs
- 110
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 2
