Kaitlyn Greenidge is an American writer. She received a 2017 Whiting Award for Fiction for her debut novel, ''We Love You, Charlie Freeman''. Her second book is a historical novel called ''Libertie'' (2021).

Early life and education

Greenidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in the neighboring communities of

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

and Arlington. She and her two sisters were raised by her mother, a social worker, after her parents divorced when she was 7. Greenidge and her sisters were some of the few students of color in their wealthy school district. While in college, Greenidge lived in Alaska for several months. Greenidge received her bachelor's degree from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

and her MFA from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

Career

Greenidge has written nonfiction for outlets such as ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

.com'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

.'' In September 2020 she was hired as the features director for ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

''.

Books

Greenidge's debut novel, ''We Love You, Charlie Freeman'', was released in 2016. It tells the story of an African American family, the Freemans, who adopt a chimpanzee and raise it as a family member for an institutional research project. The book received positive critical reception; it was called "masterful" in a '' Paste'' review, and a "vivid and poignant coming-of-age story" by ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

''. Greenidge received a 2017 Whiting Award for the book. She received a 2018–2019 fellowship from the

Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

, where she worked on "an untitled novel based in part on the life of

Susan Smith McKinney Steward Susan Maria McKinney Steward (March 1847 – March 17, 1918) was an American physician and author. She was the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state.Seraile, W. (1985). SUSAN McKINNEY STEWARD: ...

, the first black female doctor in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

State." The novel, ''Libertie'', was released by

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

in March 2021. In a starred review by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', the book was called "another genius work of radical historical fiction." ''

'' wrote in a similarly positive review: "Greenidge explores issues that are still real today while also inviting readers into historical moments that will be new to many."

Personal life

Greenidge resides in central Massachusetts with her daughter (born 2019).

Accolades

* 2017 - Whiting Award for Fiction (for ''We Love You, Charlie Freeman'') * 2021 - Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction

Works

Books

* ''We Love You, Charlie Freeman'' (2016), Algonquin, *Libertie (2021), Algonquin,

Articles

* ''What Walmart Doesn't Get About Juneteenth'' (2021); ''

'' – Opinion Guest Essay

References

External links

Official websiteKaitlyn Greenidge
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenidge, Kaitlyn Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American women writers American essayists Writers from Boston 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people Hunter College alumni American women essayists Wesleyan University alumni American women editors