Dawson Reads Winter 2026

“Write and forget the noise,” advised Gladwell Pamba.

Pamba was speaking to students and faculty in the packed amphitheatre at the Winter 2026 edition of Dawson Reads, sponsored by the English Department.

Dawson literature student Dorji Dhatsenpa opened the event by reading six original poems.

English teacher Sarah Burgoyne introduced the main speaker, saying, “Gladwell creates characters that shimmer off the page.”

Gladwell Pamba is a prize-winning Montreal-based writer from Kenya who is currently doing her PhD in English at Concordia University. She read her story “Little Paradiso,” winner of the 2025 Malahat Review Far Horizons Award.

The story is told from the point of view of Cheche, an orphan in rural Kenya, for whom a marriage has been arranged. Cheche is a child with no idea what to do, but she knows she has to escape from this situation.

Pamba said she loves to write from a child’s perspective. “You get away with so much. My characters end up saying things that are controversial, but they are not questioned!”

One student asked what the message of the story was.

“I don’t even know!” Pamba laughed. Then she thought for a few seconds and said, “Maybe it’s courage. Sometimes courage is just going into the dark. Taking a leap into the dark.”

Her counsel for younger writers?

“Try to believe in yourself. Don’t look for approval or validation,” Pamba suggested.

Near the end of the long and lively Q&A, one student asked for more advice on how to become a better writer.

“Read,” Pamba said. “Just read.”

by Sarah Gilbert