Valerie Boyd (December 11, 1963 – February 12, 2022) was an American writer and academic. She was best known for her biography of

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

entitled ''Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston''. She was an associate professor and the

Charlayne Hunter-Gault Charlayne Hunter-Gault (born February 27, 1942) is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the ...

Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the

Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public re ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, where she taught narrative nonfiction writing, as well as arts and

literary journalism Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

Early life

Boyd was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, on December 11, 1963. Her father operated a gas station and tire shop; her mother was a housewife. Boyd studied at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1985. She subsequently undertook

postgraduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

, obtaining a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in creative nonfiction writing in 1999.

Career

Journalism

Boyd first worked as a copy editor for the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' starting in 1985. She later became a reporter, book critic and line editor for the paper. Boyd founded ''EightRock'', a cutting-edge journal of black arts and culture, in 1990. Two years later, she co-founded ''HealthQuest'', the first nationally distributed magazine focusing on African-American health, and served as its editor in chief. Her articles, essays and reviews also appear in ''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'', ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'', '' Paste'', The ''

Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...

'', ''Book'', ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', ''Creative Nonfiction'', ''

African American Review ''African American Review'' (''AAR'') is a scholarly aggregation of essays on African-American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews. The journal has featured writers and cultural c ...

'' and other publications. Boyd eventually became Arts Editor of the ''Journal-Constitution'', a position she held until leaving the newspaper in 2004. Published in 2003, Boyd's ''Wrapped in Rainbows'' was the first biography of author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston in 25 years. Boyd said she felt a strong connection to the author since first reading Hurston's novel, ''

Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hurston's best known work. The novel explores main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a v ...

'', during her freshman year at Northwestern University. She describes her experience as feeling called to the challenge of writing ''Wrapped in Rainbows'' when she heard Hurston's first biographer,

Robert Hemenway Robert Emery Hemenway (August 10, 1941 – July 31, 2015) was the 16th chancellor of the University of Kansas (KU). Biography Hemenway was born on August 10, 1941, in Nebraska. He arrived at KU in 1995 as the successor to interim chancellor Del S ...

, a white male, speak at the 1994 Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities in

Eatonville, Florida Eatonville is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States, six miles north of Orlando. It is part of the Orlando– Kissimmee metropolitan statistical area. Incorporated on August 15, 1887, it was one of the first self-governing all-black ...

. Hemenway suggested it was time for a new biography and this time it needed to be written by a black woman. ''

'' declared ''Wrapped in Rainbows'' "the definitive Hurston biography for many years to come."

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning author

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was aw ...

has said of Boyd's work, "This daughter, Valerie Boyd, has written a biography of Zora Neale Hurston that will be the standard for years to come. Offering vivid splashes of Zora's colorful humor, daring individualism and refreshing insouciance, Boyd has done justice to a dauntless spirit and heroic life."

Academia

After leaving the ''Journal-Constitution'' in 2004, Boyd went into academia. She was named

Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at

Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public re ...

three years later. She co-founded the Alice Walker Literary Society in 1997, together with

Beverly Guy-Sheftall Beverly Guy-Sheftall (born June 1, 1946, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American Black feminist scholar, writer and editor, who is the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies and English at Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the fou ...

and

Rudolph Byrd Rudolph or Rudolf may refer to: People * Rudolph (name), the given name including a list of people with the name Religious figures * Rudolf of Fulda (died 865), 9th century monk, writer and theologian * Rudolf von Habsburg-Lothringen (1788 ...

. She was also an elected board member for the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

. Boyd traveled the United States giving speeches and lectures on the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston as a part of the Big Read, a program sponsored by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

designed to re-establish reading for pleasure as a popular American pastime.

Later life

Boyd was named editor-at-large for the University of Georgia Press in 2021. Simon & Schuster/37 Ink is scheduled to publish her book, ''Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker'', posthumously in the spring of 2022. Boyd died on February 12, 2022, at a hospital in Atlanta. She was 58, and suffered from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

prior to her death.

Awards and recognition

Boyd received the Georgia Author of the Year Award in nonfiction as well as an

American Library Association Notable Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

citation for her work on ''Wrapped in Rainbows''. The Georgia Center for the Book named it one of the "25 Books That All Georgians Should Read", and the Southern Book Critics Circle honored it with the 2003 Southern Book Award for best nonfiction of the year. Boyd was inducted into the

Georgia Writers Hall of Fame The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame honors writers who have made significant contributions to the literary legacy of the state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Established in 2000 by the University of Georgia Libraries’ Hargrett Rare Book and Manu ...

in 2021.

References

External links

Valerie Boyd Papers
at Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Valerie 1963 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century African-American women African-American women writers African-American writers American women academics American women non-fiction writers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American journalists Goucher College alumni Journalists from Alabama Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state) Medill School of Journalism alumni People from Macon County, Alabama University of Georgia faculty Writers from Atlanta 21st-century African-American writers