Shani Mootoo: Reading & Launch

SFU’s Department of English is delighted to welcome Shani Mootoo as our 2026 Ellen and Warren Tallman writer-in-residence. Please join us for readings from Shani followed by a reception on Thursday, October 29th (Doors: 6:15 PM; Event: 7-9:30 PM) at SFU Harbour Centre (HCC 1400-1410). Doors will open at 6:15 PM, so guests can enjoy tea and coffee, a cash bar, and a light snack before the event starts. Shani will read from and discuss her work, and a reception will follow. Writer-in-Residence Bio: Shani Mootoo was born in Ireland and raised in Trinidad, relocating to Canada in her early twenties. She practiced initially as a video maker and visual artist, and for the last thirty years Mootoo has concentrated on novel writing, poetry and photo-based work. She has authored several novels, including “Starry Starry Night”, “Polar Vortex” and “Cereus Blooms at Night”, and poetry books, including “Oh Witness Dey!”, “Cane | Fire”, and “The Predicament of Or”. She has been awarded the Doctor of Letters honoris causa from Western University, is a recipient of Lambda Literary’s James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize, the Writers’ Trust Engel Findley Award, The National Library’s Library and Archives Scholar Award, and the 2026 Blue Metropolis Violet Literary Prize. She lives in Southern Ontario. Venue and Accessibility: This in-person event takes place at the SFU Harbour Centre (Room HCC 1400-1410). It is easily accessible by transit and near SkyTrain. The campus is wheelchair accessible and has wheelchair accessible washrooms. Gender neutral washrooms are also available. Note: This event will be photographed. Please inform the photographer if you do not want your picture taken.