Nayani Jensen (supplied image)
Nayani Jensen wins 2024 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Canadian Writers
Published: August 2, 2024
Nayani Jensen, a PhD candidate in the Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology (IHPST) at the Faculty of Arts & Science, has been named winner of the short fiction category in the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s 2024 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Canadian Writers.
Jensen was recognized for Like Rabbits, a story about the 17th-century Dutch physician, physiologist and anatomist Regnier de Graaf, who made key discoveries in reproductive biology before dying at the age of 32. Jensen imagined the end of de Graaf’s life based on real historical research and archival work.
The Writers’ Trust short fiction jury said Like Rabbits was “historical fiction at its most intimate,” lauding Jensen for crafting “a timeless story of ambition and a tender portrait of a marriage.”
“I sincerely did not think that I was going to win,” Jensen said. “I was very happy just to have been a finalist, so it was a big surprise, but it was wonderful.”
Little Rabbits is part of a collection of fictional short stories, each grounded in a scientific discovery or debate. “It's big questions about science as well as human questions all looked at through the lens of the short story,” Jensen said.
