Hunter Artist Award for literature (congrats Shani!), she explains that she approaches all of her art in the same way regardless of medium and that “no matter what doing, it’s all the same.”Īmazingly, Cereus Blooms at Night is Mootoo’s first novel, but you would never guess. In fact, in this video, which profiles her as this year’s recipient of the K.M. Now that I know Mootoo is also a gifted filmmaker and painter, the sensual nature of her novels makes sense: she’s experienced in working with visual mediums-those kinds of art that trigger senses other than those you might associate with fiction-and has adapted those skills and awareness to her writing. I’ve honestly never read anything that had such a strong sensory effect on me: the lilting rhythm of the language, the bittersweetness of the narrative twists, the tactile images of the natural environment everything about this novel felt so visceral. The worth of something as rich as Cereus would be hard to overestimate. It was her first novel, Cereus Blooms at Night (1996), that instigated this love. A few months ago when I reviewed Shani Mootoo’s most recent novel, Valmiki’s Daughter, I prefaced the review with an admission that I already loved Mootoo’s writing before I even started the book.
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