Sharon Bala (born April 3, 1979) is a Canadian writer residing in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ameri ...

. Her debut novel, ''The Boat People'', won the 2015 Percy Janes First Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts. It was later published by

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was found ...

and Doubleday in January 2018. The book was internationally publicized as part of Penguin Random House's One World, One Book campaign. The book was selected for the 2018 edition of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fren ...

'', where it was defended by

Mozhdah Jamalzadah Mozhdah Jamalzadah (Dari/Pashto: ) (born December 27, 1982 in Kabul, Afghanistan) is an Afghan singer, actress, and talk show host. Referred to as 'The Oprah of Afghanistan', Jamalzadah hosts The Mozhdah Show, which often touches on issues such ...

. It won the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, was a finalist for the 2018

amazon.ca First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of C ...

, and was shortlisted for the 2015

Fresh Fish Award The Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers was established in 2006 by Brian O'Dea, an author from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the east ...

for Emerging Writers and the 2019

Thomas Head Raddall Award The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.

. Bala was the winner of the 2017

Journey Prize The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story published by a ...

for her short story "Butter Tea at Starbucks", and was longlisted for the 2017

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for fiction for her short story "Miloslav". Her short fiction has appeared in '' Hazlitt'', ''

Grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legu ...

'', ''

The Dalhousie Review ''The Dalhousie Review'' is a Canadian literary magazine, founded in 1921 and associated with Dalhousie University. It publishes three times a year, in the spring, summer, and fall. Content includes fiction, poetry, literary essays and book reviews. ...

'', ''Riddle Fence'', ''

Room In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors, that ...

'', ''

Prism International ''Prism International'' (styled ''PRISM international'') is a magazine published quarterly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1959, it is Western Canada's senior literary magazine. The magazine was started with name ''Prism'' ...

'', '' Maisonneuve'', '' Joyland'', ''

The New Quarterly ''The New Quarterly'' is a literary magazine based in Waterloo, Ontario that publishes short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction from emerging and established Canadian writers. History and profile ''The New Quarterly'' was established in ...

'', and in an anthology called ''Racket: New Writing From Newfoundland''.

Awards

*2015 Percy Janes First Novel Award for ''The Boat People'' *2017

for "Butter Tea at Starbucks," published in ''

Bibliography

* ''The Boat People'' (2018)

References

21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women short story writers Canadian women novelists Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Sri Lankan emigrants to Canada Living people Canadian writers of Asian descent 1979 births {{Canada-writer-stub