Oct 23, 2020
Alicia Elliott's A Mind Spread Out on the Ground wins the 2020 Evergreen, an award that is voted on by readers through libraries across Ontario.
As a Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River, Elliott has received praise for her collection of essays that delves into her personal experiences of the enduring scars of colonial oppression. The Kirkus Review said of the book: "Elliott writes with honesty and empathy of her life and the lives of family, constantly reckoning with institutional racism and less intentional private prejudices". Here is Elliott's own description of her book: "A Mind Spread Out on the Ground"! In it, I analyse my own life - joy, shame & vulnerabilities - and situate them within the wider context of extractive capitalism & colonialism."
The Evergreen Award is run by the Forest of Reading Program from the Ontario Library Association, where readers of all ages participate in choosing their favourites.
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground was shortlisted for the 2019 Hilary Weston Writers Trust Prize for Non-Fiction. It was named one of Best Books of 2019 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Chatelaine, Quill and Quire, and The Hill Times. The Evergreen is more recognition of how Elliott's writing has resonated with readers.
The Library has it as an Express eBook, on downloadable audio, or in print.
