Raywat Deonandan was born in Guyana and moved to Canada as a child. He earned both a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario. Deonandan’s literary writings have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. He is based in Ottawa and worked as an epidemiologist and international health consultant prior to securing a position in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa where he specializes in global health.
Fiction
Divine Elemental
Toronto: TSAR, 2003.
PS8557 .E583 D59 2003
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
This tale of romance between unlikely lovers explores the divides between science and religion, East and West, male and female, ancient and modern, and the extent to which perception defines reality.
Fiction (Short stories)
Sweet Like Saltwater: Stories
Toronto: TSAR, 1999.
PS8557 .E583 S93 1999
Publisher’s Synopsis
These stories — about a fanatical cricket supporter in rural colonial Guyana, an immigrant girl on the run on a Canadian backroad, a terrifying aquatic encounter in a faraway planetary colony of the future, a meeting of former neighbours on the banks of the Hudson — probe with acuity and a wry sense of humour the very modern condition of human exile and the search for freedom and belonging.
Awards and Honours
2000 Guyana Prize for Best First Work (Winner)
Anthology (Short story)
Beyond Sangre Grande
Deonandan, Raywat. “Lords of Izzat.” In Beyond Sangre Grande: Caribbean Writing Today, edited by Cyril Dabydeen. Toronto: TSAR Publications, 2011.
PR9205.5 .B49 2011
Anthology (Short story)
Bolo! Bolo!
Deonandan, Raywat. “Motherland.” In Bolo! Bolo!: A Collection of Writings by Second Generation South Asians Living in North America, edited by the Kitchen Table Collective. Mississauga, Ont.: South Asian Professionals’ Networking Association, 2000.
PS8089.5.S68 B74 2000
Anthology (Short story)
Desilicious
Deonandan, Raywat. “Destroyer of Worlds.” In Desilicious: Sexy, Subversive, South Asian, edited by Masala Trois Collective. Vancouver : Arsenal Pulp Press, 2003.
PS595.E76 D48 2003
Anthology (Short story)
Jahaji
Deonandan, Raywat. “Far From Family.” In Jahaji: An Anthology of Indo-Caribbean Fiction, edited by Frank Birbalsingh. Toronto: TSAR, 2000.
PR9205.8 .J33 2000
Anthology (Short story)
Toronto Noir
Deonandan, Raywat. “Midnight Shift.” In Toronto Noir, edited by Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore. New York: Akashic Books, 2008.
PS8329.7.T67 T67 2008
Selected Criticism and Interpretation
Chilana, Rajwant Singh. “Dr. Raywat Deonandan.” In South Asian Writers in Canada: A Bio-Bibliographical Study. Surrey, BC: Asian Publications, 2017, 260-261.
Z1376 .S68 C45 2017