Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist. 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 ...

''Homegoing'', published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, 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 ...

John Leonard Award The John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, established in 2013, is an annual literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) for authors' first books in any genre. Unlike other NBCC awards, recipients are selected by members, n ...

for best first book, the

PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway ...

for a first book of fiction, the

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

's " 5 under 35" honors for 2016 and the

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

. She was awarded a

Vilcek Prize The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions to the United States, and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation's flagship programs include the Vilcek Foundation Prizes, which recognize and support immigra ...

for Creative Promise in Literature in 2020.

Early life and education

Born in Mampong, Ghana, she is the daughter of Kwaku Gyasi, a professor of French at the

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises nine colleges: arts, humanities & social scienc ...

, and Sophia, who is a nurse. Her family moved to the United States in 1991 when her father was completing his Ph.D. at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. The family also lived in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and from the age of 10, Gyasi was raised in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

. Gyasi recalls being shy as a child, feeling close to her brothers for their shared experiences as young immigrant children in Alabama, and turning to books as her "closest friends". She was encouraged by receiving a certificate of achievement signed by

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...

for the first story she wrote, which she had submitted to the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. At the age of 17, while attending

Grissom High School , motto_translation = We can do it , streetaddress = 1001 Haysland Road , city = Huntsville, Alabama , zipcode = 35802 , country = United States , ceeb = 011466 , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Alabama , ...

, Gyasi was inspired after reading

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

's ''Song of Solomon'' to pursue writing as a career. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and 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 ...

from the

Iowa Writers' 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 ...

, a creative writing program at 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 ...

Career

Shortly after graduating from Stanford, she began her debut novel and worked at a startup company in San Francisco, but she did not enjoy the work and resigned after she was accepted to Iowa in 2012. Her debut novel '' Homegoing'' was inspired by a 2009 trip to Ghana, Gyasi's first since leaving the country as an infant. The novel was completed in 2015 and after initial readings from publishers, was met with numerous offers before she accepted a seven-figure advance from

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...

selected ''Homegoing'' for the National Book Foundation's 2016 "5 under 35" award, and the novel also was selected for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award, the

PEN/Hemingway award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway ...

for best first book, and the American Book Award for contributions to diversity in American literature.Alter, Alexandra (January 17, 2017)
"Zadie Smith and Michael Chabon Among National Book Critics Circle Finalists"
''The New York Times''. Her writing has also appeared in such publications as ''

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 ...

'', ''

Callaloo Callaloo (many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux or callalloo; ) is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish. There are many variants across the Caribbean, depending on the availability of local vegetables. The main in ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

''. Gyasi cites

( ''Song of Solomon''),

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

('' One Hundred Years of Solitude''),

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

( ''Go Tell It on the Mountain''),

Edward P. Jones Edward Paul Jones (born October 5, 1950) is an American novelist and short story writer. His 2003 novel '' The Known World'' received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award. Biography Edward Paul Jones was born ...

('' Lost in the City''), and

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

(''

Unaccustomed Earth ''Unaccustomed Earth'' is a collection of short stories from American author Jhumpa Lahiri. It is her second collection of stories, following '' Interpreter of Maladies'' (which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). As with much of Lahiri's work, ...

'') as inspirations. , Gyasi lived in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. In 2017, Gyasi was chosen by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' for their 30 under 30 list. In March 2021, she wrote an essay on "this question of 'the business of reading', of how we read, why we read, and what reading ''does'' for and to us." She wrote, "While I do devoutly believe in the power of literature to challenge, to deepen, to change, I also know that buying books by black authors is but a theoretical, grievously belated and utterly impoverished response to centuries of physical and emotional harm."

Works

* ''Homegoing'' (2016) * ''

Transcendent Kingdom ''Transcendent Kingdom'' is the second novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, published in 2020 by Alfred A. Knopf. ''Transcendent Kingdom'' was found in Literary Hub to have made 17 lists of the best books of 2020. Summary The novel follow ...

'' (2020)

Awards

for best first book *

for a first book of fiction * 2016:

's " 5 under 35" *

* 2017: ''

'' Best of Young American Novelists *2020:

for Creative Promise in Literature,

Vilcek Foundation The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions to the United States, and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation's flagship programs include the Vilcek Foundation Prizes, which recognize and support immigra ...

*2021:

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

, shortlisted for ''Transcendent Kingdom ''

References

External links

* ''NYT SundayReview'' Opinion by Yaa Gyasi
"I'm Ghanaian-American. Am I Black?"
June 8, 2016
Interview on the ''Daily Show'' with Trevor Noah
(video, 5:43), August 16, 2016
Interview on ''Late Night'' with Seth Meyers
(video, 3:15), August 2, 2016
Interview on Tavis Smiley
(video, 11:34) and transcript, June 2, 2016 *

Kate Kellaway Kate Kellaway (born 15 July 1957) is an English journalist and literary critic who writes for ''The Observer''. Early life The daughter of the Australians Bill and Deborah Kellaway, she is the older sister of the journalist Lucy Kellaway. B ...

"Yaa Gyasi: ‘Slavery is on people’s minds. It affects us still’"
''The Guardian'', January 8, 2017.
"Yaa Gyasi"
at Foyles. * Alec Russell
"Yaa Gyasi: ‘Racism is still the drumbeat of America’"
April 20, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyasi, Yaa African-American women writers African-American novelists American Book Award winners American women novelists Ghanaian emigrants to the United States Ghanaian novelists Ghanaian women novelists Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Living people 1989 births People from Huntsville, Alabama Race in the United States African slave trade Stanford University alumni 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century Ghanaian women writers 21st-century Ghanaian writers Women historical novelists Writers from Huntsville, Alabama 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women