Sarah Blake is an American writer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her debut novel, ''Naamah'', is a retelling of the

Great Flood A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...

and the family's time on the

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

. Her poetry books include ''Mr. West'' and ''Let's Not Live on Earth'', as well as the chapbook ''Named After Death''. She received a Literature Fellowship from the NEA in 2013.

Life

Blake grew up in New Jersey. She attended

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

as an undergraduate majoring in math and minoring in creative writing. She later received her MA in creative writing at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, and her MFA in poetry from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. She currently lives outside

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Career

Blake has worked for the

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation is an American philanthropic organization based in Morristown, New Jersey which nurtures leaders, ideas, and institutions that transcend self-interest while promoting a sustainable future. The foundation believe ...

and

Princeton Day School Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The largest division is the Upper School (grades 9–12), ...

. She also co-created the website Submittrs an online submission tracking tool for writers. In an editorial capacity, Blake was worked with Philadelphia publisher Saturnalia Books and MiPOesias. The New York Times described ''Naamah'' as a "very wild and superbly intelligent reimagining" of the Biblical story and a "21st-century riff on climate disaster."

Honors

*2013 NEA Literature Fellowship *2019 National Jewish Book Award Winner, Goldberg Prize for Debut Fiction

Published works

Poetry

* ''Mr. West'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2015)
''Named After Death''
(Banango Editions, 2016) * ''Let's Not Live on Earth'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2017)

Fiction

* ''Naamah'' (Riverhead Books, 2019) * ''Clean Air'' (Algonquin Books, 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Sarah 21st-century American women writers American women novelists Living people 21st-century American poets American women poets National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets from New Jersey 1984 births