The 19th season of the Canadian Writers in Person Lecture series, presented by York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), kicks off on Tuesday, Sept. 19 with author Mona Awad (BA ’04).
Awad is the first in a lineup of 11 writers to be featured in the 2017-18 series, which is free and open to the public and runs 7 to 10pm in 206 Accolade West.
She will discuss her novel Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, which was named one of the best books of the year by The Globe and Mail, NPR, The Atlantic and Time Out New York.
Mona Awad’s novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
Mona Awad
The book follows the story of Lizzie, who has grown up in ‘Misery Saga’ (a.k.a. Mississauga) and hates the way she looks. Lizzie begins an obsessive journey to lose weight and see herself as anything but a fat girl.
The story has been called brilliant, hilarious and at times shocking, and is the debut novel from Awad. It was a finalist for the Giller Prize, winner of the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and earned praise from The Huffington Post, Elle and more.
Awad was born in Montreal, and has lived in the United States on and off since 2003. An alumna of York University, Awad studied English Literature at Glendon and graduated in 2004. She went on to receive an MFA in fiction from Brown University and her MScR in English literature from the University of Edinburgh. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Walrus, Joyland, Post Road, St. Petersburg Review, and elsewhere.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing and English literature at the University of Denver.
For a complete lineup of this year’s Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series, visit cltr.huma.laps.yorku.ca/canwrite.