Angela Flournoy is an American writer. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

'' The Turner House'' (2015) won the

First Novelist Award The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award is an American literary award for debut novels. It has been presented annually since 2002 on behalf of Virginia Commonwealth University's MFA in Creative Writing Program. Nominations are solicited from MFA prog ...

and was shortlisted for the

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

, shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, nominated for an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

, and named a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Notable Book of 2015. She was also listed on the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

s' 5 under 35 list, nominated by her former teacher

ZZ Packer Zuwena "ZZ" Packer (b. January 12, 1973) is an American writer. She is primarily known for her works of short fiction. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois, Packer grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky. "ZZ" was a ...

Early life and education

Flournoy was raised in Southern California. Her mother was from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and father from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Flournoy attended the

Iowa Writer's Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...

and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. She started developing her first novel, '' The Turner House'' while attending the Iowa Workshop, where she frequently traveled to Detroit to visit her father's family.

Career

After graduating, Flournoy taught writing for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

Trinity Washington University Trinity Washington University is a private Catholic university in Washington, D.C. Trinity is a comprehensive university with five schools; the undergraduate College of Arts & Sciences maintains its original mission as a liberal arts women's ...

, and the DC Public Library. She published ''The Turner House'' in 2015. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "an engrossing and remarkably mature first novel...assured and memorable."

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

describes Flournoy as "the most lauded debut novelist in America," noting her many awards and honors, as well as ''The Turner House'''s strong sales: "According to

Bookscan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by The NPD Group in the United States and the Nielsen Company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South ...

, which tracks around 70% of U.S. book sales, her book has sold over 15,000 copies in paperback and hardcover as of April 016 anything over 10,000 is generally considered high for

literary fiction Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...

." In 2020 she was scheduled to go on a

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

-sponsored reading tour of Germany. Flournoy canceled at short notice amid tensions with Iran and published a justification in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

. Flournoy attributes her understanding of character development to Zora Neale Hurston’s ''

Mules and Men ''Mules and Men'' is a 1935 autoethnographical collection of African-American folklore collected and written by anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. The book explores stories she collected in two trips: one in Eatonville and Polk County, Florida, an ...

.''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flournoy, Angela 21st-century American novelists African-American novelists American women novelists Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni University of Southern California alumni Trinity Washington University faculty University of Iowa faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Novelists from Iowa American women academics 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers