Naima Coster is a Dominican-American writer known for her debut novel, ''Halsey Street'', which was published in January 2018. Coster is the recipient of numerous awards including a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

nomination.

Life and career

Naima Coster was born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY. She identifies as Black and Latina. Coster holds an MFA in Fiction from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, an MA in English and Creative Writing from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, and a BA in English and African American studies from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. She is an alumna of Prep for Prep, a leadership development program in New York City. She has taught writing to students in jail, youth programs, and universities. She is the author of two novels, ''Halsey Street'', and ''What's Mine and Yours.'' Her novels address topics such as

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

, and racial and cultural identity. Her writing has appeared in publications including ''

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 ...

'', '' The Rumpus,

Arts & Letters ''Arts & Letters'' is an American semiannual literary journal, published by Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. Established in 1999, the journal is known for its in-depth interviews with major American writers, includi ...

, Kweli,'' and ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

.'' She also writes the newsletter, ''Bloom How You Must''. As of 2018, she was a visiting assistant professor at Wake Forest University in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, where she lives with her family.

Works

Novels

*''Halsey Street.'' Amazon Publishing, 2017. . *''What's Mine and Yours''. Grand Central Publishing, 2021. .

Essays

Brooklyn Born
''Paris Review Daily.'' May 2018.
Who Gets to Write About Gentrification?
''Lit Hub''. January 2018.
My Editor Was Black
''Catapult.'' December 2017.
Reorientation
''Winner of the Cosmonauts Avenue Non-Fiction Prize'', judged by Roxane Gay. September 2017.
Albums of Our Lives: Nirvana's Nevermind
''The Rumpus''. June 2015.
More Than Its Parts
''A Practical Wedding.'' July 2014.
Fire Escape
''Arts & Letters.'' Spring 2012.

''The Ascentos Review.'' August 2011.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
''The Fordham Observer.'' July 2011

''The New York Times.'' February 2011.

Stories

* Lila - Amazon Original Story
Cold
''Aster (ix) Journal (March 2017) & Kweli (June 2016).''
The Spot
''Cosmonauts Avenue''. November 2016. * The Beach. ''The Fordham Observer''. August 2011.

''The Ascentos Review''. August 2010.

Anthologies

*
Cosmonauts Avenue Anthology
' https://cosmonautsavenue.com/shop June 2019. *
This is the Place: Women Writing About Home
'' Ed. by Margot Case & Kelly McMasters. Seal Press, Nov. 2017. *
Best of Kweli: An Aster(ix) Anthology
'. Ed. by Angie Cruz & Laura Pegram. Spring 2017.

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coster, Naima 21st-century American novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American women novelists Yale University alumni Fordham University alumni 21st-century American women writers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn Novelists from New York (state)