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Alicia Elliott

@ellialic

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Writer and editor. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground. And Then She Fell Sep 2023

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And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliot, published by Penguin Random House Canada, 2023.

From the bestselling author of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground comes a mind-bending, gripping novel about Native life, motherhood and mental health that follows a young Mohawk woman who discovers that the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequences.

On the surface, Alice is exactly where she should be. She’s just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve, is nothing but supportive; and they’ve recently moved to a wealthy neighborhood in Toronto. And yet, Alice feels like an imposter. She isn’t connecting with Dawn, a struggle made even more difficult by the recent loss of her mother, and every waking moment is spent hiding her despair from her watchful white neighbors. Her growing self-doubt hinders the one vestige of her old life she has left: her goal of writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.

At first, Alice is convinced her discomfort is of her own making, but then strange things start happening. She finds herself losing bits of time, hearing voices she can’t explain, and speaking with things that should not be talking back to her, all while her neighbors’ passive-aggressive behavior begins to morph into something far more threatening. Though Steve assures her this is all in her head, Alice cannot fight the feeling that something is very, very wrong, and that in her creation story lies the key to her and Dawn’s survival. . . . She just has to finish it before it’s too late.

Alicia Elliott is a Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River. Her writing has been published by The Malahat Review, Room, Grain, CBC, The Globe and Mail, and Maclean’s, among others. She is currently creative nonfiction editor at The Fiddlehead, associate nonfiction editor at Little Fiction | Big Truths, and a consulting editor with The New Quarterly. Her essay “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” won Gold at the National Magazine Awards in 2017. Elliott lives in Brantford, Ontario, with her husband and child.

@ellialic @penguinrandomca

#aliciaelliott #indigenousart #indigenousvoices #readmorebooks taken in Turtle Island by @ellialic

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9 months ago

I read three memoirs this month, switching to fiction! Now reading 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙡𝙡 by Alicia Elliott (@ellialic). "A mind-bending, razor-sharp look at motherhood and mental health that follows a young Indigenous woman who discovers the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequences."

#Anishinaabekwe🤓 #IndigenousReads by @ellialic

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10 months ago

Soooooo this happened. I'm officially an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Guelph!!! Now you know why I've been so quiet lately - been trying to adjust to this very new, very different job.

The first time I came here last year, it was because And Then She Fell was chosen as the Gryphon Reads book. I remember being impressed that everyone I engaged with was so warm and welcoming and curious. I just finished teaching my second class, and to be honest, it still hasn't totally hit yet. Part of me is still in disbelief that this is real. I didn't even let myself imagine that a school would hire me, let alone a school with so many incredible students and staff. I also know I never would have felt qualified to even apply for the position without the unwavering faith and support of some really incredible people, namely @canisia.lubrin, @carrianneleung, @phillipdwightmorgan and @krbyggdin. Getting interview help from the brilliant @jennyheijunwills and David Chariandy definitely sealed the deal, and I wouldn't be here without them. Community and friends who see the potential in you that you don't see in yourself, and then push and support you to realize that potential? How can you ask for anything better?

I'm sure I will remain emotional about this for a long time, even if I don't always let myself cry tears of joy and gratitude. 💜 by @ellialic

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a year ago

Back at Banff for a Horror Writing Residency. The Banff Centre and I don't have the best relationship, but already this seems like the visit that turns things around. With this type of view from my studio, how could it not be? Breaking patterns and shit like a grown ass woman. Who would have thought? Send non-procrastinating vibes my way!! (That's one pattern my adhd ass keeps putting off addressing...) by @ellialic

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a year ago

The cover of Alicia Elliott’s book, And Then She Fell.

Alicia Elliott will be reading tomorrow, Thursday Janurary 23 at 5:30 PM PT. Those attending in person or on zoom will have a chance to win a copy of And Then She Fell!

Attend in-person or find the zoom link registration on our bio, by visiting writingcentre.ecaud.ca, or by emailing onedge@ecuad.ca

💜 Hybrid event
💜 ASL Interpretation provided
💜 Free and Open to all

Image Description:
The book cover of And Then She Fell features an illustration of a girl’s face with blue skin and long black hair with a distraught facial expression. Two grey tree branches in yellow lighting are curling around her face like jagged hands, the lower branch half covering her mouth. Green leaves swirl around her face with some faint bits of glowing magenta around the branches. The background is a dark void. The book’s title and author name is in white, sharp text, with the other text in a yellow hand-written font. Text reads: And Then She Fell, a novel, Alicia Elliott, Bestselling author of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground.
Post by Joanna L. The book cover of And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott by @ellialic

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2 years ago

I didn’t even have time to talk about who was, to me, one of the most interesting characters in And Then She Fell: Pocahontas, who appears to the protagonist Alice as Disney’s creation but is not: she’s a voice against cultural co-opting and misappropriating.

This Pochahontas is irreverent and funny and wise and such a force: she made me interrogate myself and think more deeply than ever about all the violence in silencing Indigenous voices and erasing culture. Seriously. Go pick up this book. Maybe you have already. I’m late to the party on this one.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliot (@ellialic) was published by Doubleday (@doubledayca).
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#bookworm #bookstagram #bookreview #amreading #indigenous #indigenousart #booklover #bookishreel #bookish #bookishcanadians #bookstagrammer #canadianbookstagram #aliciaelliot #indigenousstories #bookreel #bookreels #bookreview #bookreviewer #pocahontas #recommendedreading #mentalhealthmatters #goodreads #pocahontasdisney by @ellialic

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2 years ago

Sam in a sweater season is upon us!! Look at him yawn... in a sweater!! Winter magic by @ellialic

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2 years ago

Just yorkie things by @ellialic

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2 years ago

I'm sooooo excited to be able to chat with my friend, the super talented Carleigh Baker, about my debut novel, AND THEN SHE FELL for BC Libraries Present tomorrow!! Fully expecting lots of laughs and great conversation. It's an online event, too, so you can join from anywhere!

Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/bclibraries-aliciaelliott

Pic from @irondogbooks by @ellialic

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2 years ago

I went to my dear friend @jennyheijunwills book launch for her incredible new book Everything and Nothing At All, and if you know me and Jenny, you know we are the types of girlies to coordinate our makeup to book covers. So I obviously had to coordinate my makeup (and dress) to her stunning book cover in tribute. But when I got home and was about to take my makeup off, I realized the drip of the colours towards the bottom, almost like the beauty melting away. This reminded me of the first essay in Jenny's book, called "Pretty," which reckons with the push and pull and pressure and pleasure of beauty:

"I learned about the skepticism of an Asian colleague who works at another university. She said writing such as mine, that seems in search of beauty, that doing beautiful things, doing things to make beauty, was a gimmick. She said it distracted from politics. I was confused because, to me, politics can be done through beauty. And beauty, like everything else, is always political. Anyhow, maybe she'll one day understand that someone like me, someone afraid to be exchanged or returned or rejected or something else, must always, always exist through beauty-making, even in the most unassuming places--like a university campus."

So, remembering that, I smeared some makeup remover on my face and dragged the carefully chosen, placed and blended colours of my makeup down my face and took a pic. Beauty-making and unmaking in honour of a brilliant writer and her brilliant book. Be sure to get your hands on Everything and Nothing At All and read it ASAP! It's a modern classic, truly. by @ellialic

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2 years ago

As the editor of this book, who has read it at least 5 times and been just as captivated every time, let me just say: no one is ready for the brilliance of this book!!

I had been wanting to edit a full-length book for a long time, and I was fortunate to have Leigh Nash ask me to edit for @invisibooks some time ago. We never found the right manuscript, though - until Norm Nehmetallah took over and sent Angel B.H.'s novel "ALL HOOKERS GO TO HEAVEN" my way.

"ALL HOOKERS GO TO HEAVEN follows Mag: an East Coat girl raised in a conservative Christian home where she is urged to preserve her purity at all costs. Obsessed with earning a place in heaven, Mag rejects the hyper-sexual youth culture of her small town--that is, until she falls for a sophisticated, fun girl while attending a program designed to usher young people into Evangelical Missionary work.

Spiralling into shame and regret, Mag breaks away from the Church and launches herself into the world of sex for hire, attempting to shed her repressive past and become an anti-virgin--the exact opposite of what her religion raised her to be. As she hustles across continents, Mag finds her obsession has shifted. Instead of heaven, now she is focused on chasing the elusive, ever-shifting concept of financial security. In the process, she finds it harder and harder to differentiate the money she earns from her self-worth -- and her own identity from that of her sex worker alter ego."

THIS BOOK. I will never stop gushing over it - or Angel's monster talent, which has never stopped astonishing me. A hooker's coming-of-age tale that sweeps from small town Nova Scotia to Montreal to New Orleans to Berlin to Hong Kong, there is so much heart and wisdom and humor in this story. I could read Mag's voice for a thousand pages. I'm sure you will fall in love with her, and her story, the same way I did. I mean, just read that first paragraph! You know you want to keep reading.

ALL HOOKERS is coming out September 3!! If you're interested in an ARC for reviewing, let me know. Also, pre-orders are super important, especially for new authors like Angel, so please pre-order from your local bookstore! 💜 by @ellialic

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2 years ago

Soooo June 2024 was INCREDIBLE. On top of winning two (!!!) awards for And Then She Fell, I got an honourary diploma from George Brown College (my lil bro Mikey was there!!), went to see Los Campesinos! with my son, went to a farm to hang out with adorable goats and cows and llamas and pigs and chickens with my son and my husband for our 20th anniversary. We also went to Stratford to see Les Cage Aux Follies, which was fantastic, and went out for half-price apps where I told Mike my freshly realized plan for my next novel. He says it's good, so I know it's good. I'm pretty bad at remembering to take pics at important moments, but I'm trying to get better! That said, I never forget to take pics of Sam cuz he's the cutest. Obviously.

What brought you joy this past month? by @ellialic

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2 years ago