Shut Up You’re Pretty

Stories

In Téa Mutonji’s disarming debut story collection, a woman contemplates her Congolese traditions during a family wedding, a teenage girl looks for happiness inside a pack of cigarettes, a mother reconnects with her daughter through their shared interest in fish, and a young woman decides to shave her head in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. These punchy, sharply observed stories blur the lines between longing and choosing, exploring the narrator’s experience as an involuntary one. Tinged with pathos and humour, they interrogate the moments in which femininity, womanness, and identity are not only questioned but also imposed.

Shut Up You’re Pretty is the first book to be published under the imprint VS. Books, a series of books curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of colour.

Contributors

Téa Mutonji

Téa Mutonji is an award-winning poet and writer. Born in Congo-Kinshasa, she now lives and writes in Scarborough, Ontario where she was named emerging writer of the year (2017) by the Ontario Book Publishers Organization. Shut Up You're Pretty is her first book.
Chapter Title Contents Contributors Pages Year Price

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The narrator describes her childhood and her relationship with her friend Jolie. 6 $0.60

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The narrator describes an incident with her cousin Theresa 6 $0.60

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The narrator describes a business venture embarked on with her best friend Jolie. 6 $0.60

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The narrator describes her father and a conversation they had. 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes meeting her best friend Jolie’s new boyfriend Henry 14 $1.40

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The narrator describes her relationship with members of her community 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes her experience at school and meeting a new student. 9 $0.90

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The narrator describes the death of her father 8 $0.80

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The narrator describes the wedding of her cousin Theresa shortly after her father’s death. 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes leaving home for the first time and her relationship with an old friend named Dylan 5 $0.50

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The narrator describes her experience living in a small apartment with an artist named Olivia. 8 $0.80

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The narrator describes her experiences and the people she encounters as a sex worker. 5 $0.50

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The narrator continues to describe the people she encountered while doing sex work. 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes living with a student named Patty and her relationship with an academic. 20 $2.00

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The narrator describes the experience of getting an abortion. 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes her relationship with an older man named Ben. 7 $0.70

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The narrator describes going to a party 4 $0.40

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The narrator describes returning home and cooking with her mother. 2 $0.20