Rabindranath Maharaj (born 1955) is a Trinidadian-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and a founding editor of the Canadian literary journal ''Lichen''. His novel ''The Amazing Absorbing Boy'' won the 2010

Trillium Book Award The Trillium Book Award ( or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency (Ontario), Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is overseen by ...

and the 2011 Toronto Book Award, and several of his books have been shortlisted for the

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers ...

, the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

(Canada and Caribbean Region), and the Chapters/

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon Canada First Novel Award, formerly the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and 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 p ...

. He was raised in George Village, Tableland in South

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. After receiving a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English and History, and Diploma of Education from the University of the West Indies at Saint Augustine, he worked as a teacher and, briefly, as a columnist for the ''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. The slogan of the paper is ''The Guardia ...

''. In the early 1990s, Maharaj immigrated to Canada, and in 1993, he completed a second M.A. (this one in Creative Writing) at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

. In 1994 he moved to the town of

Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal N ...

, where he taught high school for a number of years. In 1998, Maharaj, along with three other Durham Region writers – Ruth E. Walker, Gwynn Scheltema, and Lucy Brennan – founded and co-edited ''Lichen Literary Journal'', which was launched in May 1999. He remained on the editorial board for another three years. Since then he has, among other posts, been a writer in residence at the Toronto Reference Library, the University of the West Indies, the University of New Brunswick, a mentor for young writers with Diaspora Dialogues, a faculty member at the Banff Writing Studio, and an instructor with the

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

School for Writers, and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

School of Continuing Studies. Apart from his novels and collections of short stories, he has published work in various literary journals and anthologies; written book reviews and articles for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', and others; written a play for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

; and written two screenplays. His novel ''Adjacentland'' was shortlisted for the 2019

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

for fiction. His newest novel, ''Fatboy Fall Down'', published in 2019 was the winner of the 2019 Foreword Indies Silver Medal for Literary Fiction "28 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2019"

CBC Books CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...

, January 25, 2019. He continues to reside in Ajax, Ontario.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Homer in Flight'' (1997), Goose Lane Editions (also available as an audiobook) * ''The Lagahoo's Apprentice'' (2000), Knopf Canada; and Turkey İşbank Culture Publications * ''A Perfect Pledge'' (2005), Knopf Canada; Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the US; and Mouria Press, Netherlands * ''The Picture of Nobody'' (2010), Good Reads/HarperCollins Canada * ''The Amazing Absorbing Boy'' (2010), Knopf Canada * ''Adjacentland'' (2018), Buckrider Books/Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd. * ''Fatboy Fall Down'' (2019)

Short story collections

* ''The Interloper'' (1995), Goose Lane Editions * ''The Writer and His Wife'' (1996), Peepal Tree Press, UK * ''The Book of Ifs and Buts'' (2002), Vintage Canada

Anthologies (as contributor)

* ''New Writing from the Caribbean : Selections from the Caribbean writer'' (1994), The Macmillan Press Ltd * ''AWOL : Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds'' (2003), Vintage Canada * ''Victory Meat - New Fiction in Atlantic Canada'' (2003), Anchor Canada * ''Reading Writers Reading - Canadian Authors' Reflections'' (2006), University of Alberta Press * ''TOK: Writing the New Toronto, book 2'' (2007), Zephyr Press * ''City of Words'' (2009), Cormorant Books * ''Northwords'' (2012), House of Anansi Press

Radio plays

* ''Malcolm and Alvin'' (for CBC Radio)

Screenplays

* ''Malini'' (co-writer) * ''Crabman and Sandbird'' (writer)

Awards, prizes and nominations

* 1996 Finalist,

, for best first book (for ''The Interloper'') * 1998 Finalist, Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award (for ''Homer in Flight'') * 2005 Finalist,

Commonwealth Writer's Prize Commonwealth Writers (established in 2011) is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It aims to inspire, develop and connect writers across the Commonwealth. Its flagship is a literary award for short stories, the Commonwealth S ...

(for ''A Perfect Pledge'') * 2005 Finalist,

, for best novel (for ''A Perfect Pledge'') * 2010

, for best book (for ''The Amazing Absorbing Boy'') * 2011 Longlist,

OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, inaugurated in 2011 by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, is an annual literary award for books by Caribbean writers published in the previous year.NALIS – Trinidad & Tobago's National Library and Information Systems Authority * 2013

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

, which honours significant contributions & achievements by Canadians

References

External links

Rabindranath Maharaj's official website

Random House Canada author spotlight

Goose Lane Editions author page

Author interview
by

John Metcalf (writer) John Wesley Metcalf (born 12 November 1938) is an English-born Canadian writer, editor and critic. Personal life Metcalf was born in Carlisle, England on 12 November 1938.Cameron, Barry. "John Metcalf." Canadian Writers Since 1960 Second Seri ...

in '' Canadian Notes & Queries'' magazine.
Author profile and interview
with John Barber, in ''The Globe & Mail'', February 9, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maharaj, Rabindranath Living people Canadian male novelists 1955 births Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Canadian male short story writers Canadian writers of Asian descent 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers University of the West Indies alumni University of New Brunswick alumni Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian people Canadian people of Indo-Trinidadian descent