Reid-Benta grew up in Toronto. As a child she enjoyed books written by
Judy Blume and movies like
Now and Then and
My Girl, but she didn't see herself represented in these stories. She graduated from the
University of Toronto with an Honours BA in English and Cinema studies and with a minor in Caribbean Studies. She then received an MFA from
Columbia University with a concentration in fiction. In 2017 she attended the Writers Studio at the
Banff Center for Arts and Creativity and was a 2019 John Gardner Fiction Fellow at the
Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Prior to the publication of her book, she was mentored by writers
Victor LaValle,
George Elliott Clarke,
Janice Galloway and
Olive Senior. == Inspirations ==