Zuwena "ZZ" Packer (b. January 12, 1973) is an
American writer. She is primarily known for her works of
short fiction
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
.
Early life and education
Born in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, Packer grew up in
Atlanta, Georgia
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 498,7 ...
, and
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. "ZZ" was a childhood nickname; her given name is Zuwena. She was recognized as a talented writer at an early age, publishing in ''
Seventeen'' at the age of 19. Packer is a 1990 graduate of
Seneca High School, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Packer attended
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where she received her BA in 1994. Her graduate work included an MA at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
in 1995 and an MFA 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 W ...
of the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a 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 organized into 12 col ...
in 1999, where she was mentored by
James Alan McPherson
James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who re ...
.
Career
Her work was first published in the Debut Fiction issue of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' in 2000. Her short story in the issue became the title story in her collection ''
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
''Drinking Coffee Elsewhere'' is a 2003 collection of eight short stories by ZZ Packer. Packer was given an advance for thousands of dollars and she promoted the book in a 13 city tour. The book deals with race, gender, identity, and the need for ...
''. As ''
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 ...
'' put it, "this debut short story collection is getting the highest of accolades from 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 ...
'', ''
Harper's'', the ''New Yorker'' and most every other branch of the
literary criticism tree."
"ZZ Packer’s ''Drinking Coffee Elsewhere'' is taught in creative writing courses across the country and with good reason. This short story collection is brimming with characters who are striving to find themselves, to understand themselves, and to survive", commented
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
Colson Whitehead
Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of eight novels, including his 1999 debut work '' The Intuitionist''; '' The Underground Railroad'' (2016), for which he won the 2016 National Book Awar ...
.
Packer is currently working on a
novel set during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
in the aftermath of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
: "The subject is the
Buffalo Soldiers
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in t ...
; blacks who left the South, Louisiana in this case, and traveled to the West. You don't hear much about blacks in the West and I became really fascinated by them. I thought to justify my interest I had better write about them." A short excerpt from the novel was published in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' magazine's "20 under 40" issue.
[ZZ Packer]
"Dayward"
''The New Yorker'', June 14, 2010. She has been regularly contributing to ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''.
Works
Books
Anthologies
Other works
Awards
Other honors
Teaching
Fellowships
References
External links
Profile at The Whiting Foundation*
ttps://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/plotting-her-return/ Plotting her returnbr>
The Nobel Prize Waiting Game: A Year for Long Shots?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, ZZ
21st-century American novelists
African-American women writers
African-American novelists
American women novelists
American women short story writers
Pseudonymous women writers
American historical novelists
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Writers from Louisville, Kentucky
Writers from Atlanta
University of Iowa alumni
Yale University alumni
1973 births
Living people
Baltimore City College faculty
Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty
Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
People from Pacifica, California
Writers from Chicago
Radcliffe fellows
21st-century American women writers
Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award winners
Seneca High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni
21st-century American short story writers
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners
Novelists from California
Novelists from Kentucky
Novelists from Illinois
Novelists from Iowa
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Stegner Fellows
21st-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women