Trillium Book Award: Novice Writers

Alice Munro Dept: Yet 28-year-old Ryad Assani-Razaki, from Cotonou, Benin, has found his first book Deux Cercles Two Circles in English shortlisted in the francophone category of the 23rd Trillium Book Award, to be announced Thursday in Toronto, according to The Star. The 11 tales with rich characters in his 240-page short story collection, in French, were inspired by some of the lowest moments in Assani-Razaki s life as a migrant in the United States and later in Canada and few novice writers find themselves in the same league as Canadian literary heavyweights Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, never mind someone new to the country and who once lived as an illegal. I don t know what a writer is. I just never thought about it, said the lanky Assani-Razaki, who lives in a small apartment on Jameson Ave. and works by day as a computer programmer. I just write to express how I feel and what I think to put my life into perspective. As reported in the news.
@t margaret atwood, two circles