Shauntay Grant

Shauntay Grant Photography contributed

Celebrated poet, author, and professor, Shauntay Grant was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her connection with writing started from childhood and never stopped. “My mother would come in to read me stories at night and my father would come in soon after to create raps and poems with me.” That childhood love for written words pushed Grant to publish Up Home, her first book in 2008. “I learned growing up that stories were not just in books. They were things we said and lived out loud.” Grant reminisced. Going back to school to study for a master’s degree in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia inspired Grant to turn her self-directed passion into a profession, “I wanted to take my writing seriously. Before this program, I was reading, writing and taking an odd workshop. I felt it was only right to give a dedicated amount of time to developing my craft and create a strong body of work.” Grant’s My Hair is Beautiful was released last August in 2019. Described as a celebration of natural hair, from afros to cornrows

and everything in between, My Hair is Beautiful is a joyful board book with a powerful message of self-love. This is a relevant story to tell children from a young age, as the natural hair movement is growing with Black people of all ages embracing their natural textures. “We need more diversity, I wanted to create a book for younger children that addressed that,” Grant said. “It is so important to create a space about hair that Black girls of all shades and hair textures are able to celebrate the beauty of their natural hair and celebrate our diversity as a people.” Having a colourful book like this for Black children to see themselves and their beauty represented is extremely important. Shauntay currently lives in Halifax and teaches creative writing at Dalhousie University. She is currently working on several projects including playwriting and picture books.