Naniki Finalist for 2024 Governor General's Literary Award - Dundurn
Oct 08, 2024

Naniki Finalist for 2024 Governor General's Literary Award

Dundurn Press is thrilled to announce that Naniki by Oonya Kempadoo has been shortlisted for the 2024 2024 Governor General’s Literary Awards! Congratulations Oonya!

Amana and Skelele are made of water and air, their essence intertwined with Taino and African ancestry. They evolved as elemental beings of the Anthropocene, and shape-shifting with their naniki (active spirits) or animal avatars, they begin an archipelagic journey throughout the Caribbean Basin to see the strange future they dreamed of. Until devastation erupts. The Montreal Review of Books calls it “a love letter to the Caribbean and its light-flecked waters.”

The Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks) celebrate literature and inspire people to read books by creators from Canada. They provide finalists and winners with valuable recognition from peers and readers across the country. The winner will be announced on November 14th. Learn more about the Governor General’s Literary Awards here.


Oonya Kempadoo is the author of three novels and is critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. A creative practitioner with an interest in cross-disciplinary dialogue, she is a citizen of England, Guyana, and Grenada, and currently lives in Montreal.