Zinzi Clemmons is an American writer. She is known for her 2017
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 ...
''
What We Lose''.
Personal life
Born in 1985 to a
multi-ethnic
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
South African mother from an upper-middle-class family in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
and
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
father raised in
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...
, Zinzi Clemmons grew up in
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Swarthmore was originally named "Westdale" in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to "Swarthmore" after the es ...
and spent summers in South Africa.
Rapper
Phife Dawg
Malik Izaak Taylor (November 20, 1970March 22, 2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was an American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and for a short time Jarobi W ...
, of the group
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,[Q-Tip](_blank)
, was her cousin.
Clemmons attended
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
as an undergraduate, studying
critical theory
A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...
, then earned an
MFA in
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where she worked with
Paul Beatty
Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize for his novel '' The Sellout''. It was the first time ...
.
In 2012 she moved home and paused the novel she was working on to care for her mother who was dying of cancer.
She began keeping a diary of the experience, which later served as some of the source material for her first novel.
Clemmons is married to poet and translator
André Naffis-Sahely.
They live in
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
, near
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Career
While still at Columbia, Clemmons founded Apogee, an online magazine focused on art engaged with issues of identity.
Clemmons' debut novel ''
What We Lose'' was published by
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
in 2017.
The book was loosely based on Clemmons' own experience being the primary caregiver for her mother when she died of cancer, and was described by ''
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 ...
'' as "highly experimental, told in intimate vignettes including blogposts, photos, hand-drawn charts and hip-hop lyrics". It received broad critical acclaim, with ''
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'', ...
'' calling ''What We Lose'' the best debut novel of the year.
Writing 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 ...
'',
Doreen St. Félix
Doreen St. Félix (born 1992) is a Haitian-American writer. She is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' and was formerly editor-at-large for ''Lenny Letter'', a newsletter from Lena Dunham and Jennifer Konner, Jenni Konner.
Early life
St. Féli ...
situated the book as part of the literary canon of the
black diaspora, noting its thematic emphasis on haunting.
In 2017, 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 ...
named Clemmons to its annual "5 under 35" list, selected by
Angela Flournoy
Angela Flournoy is an American writer. Her debut novel '' The Turner House'' (2015) won the First Novelist Award and was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction, shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, nomi ...
. The same year, she announced she would no longer write for the ''
Lenny Letter
Lenny or Lennie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lennie (surname), a list of people
* Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''L ...
'' and asked other women of color to join her after ''Lenny''
's founder
Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...
issued a statement defending coworker
Murray Miller
Murray Selig Miller (born December 2, 1976) is an American television writer and producer. Miller has produced and written for many television programs, including ''King of the Hill'', ''American Dad!'', ''Girls'', ''7 Days in Hell'' (2015) and ' ...
, who had been accused of rape by
Aurora Perrineau
Aurora Perrineau is an American actress and model. She is best known for starring as List of Jem characters#Jem and the Holograms, Shana Elmsford in ''Jem and the Holograms (film), Jem and the Holograms'' (2015), the live-action film adaptation o ...
, a biracial actress.
In May 2018, Clemmons accused the writer
Junot Diaz Junot is a French name that may refer to the following notable people:
;Given name
*Junot Díaz (born 1968), Dominican American
;Surname
*Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantes (1784–1838), French writer
*Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès (1771 ...
of sexual harassment at a workshop when she was a graduate student,
following a confrontation with Díaz at the
Sydney Writers' Festival
The Sydney Writers' Festival is an annual literary festival held in Sydney, with the inaugural festival taking place in 1997. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
The festival's interim artistic director since ...
.
Díaz later denied the allegations.
The public response sparked some controversy among
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
academics regarding how race and ethnicity affects the handling of sexual harassment allegations in the context of the
Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
.
After an investigation, it was determined that Díaz kissed her on her cheek.
[https://www.semafor.com/article/11/27/2022/junot-diaz-in-limbo]
Awards
Publications
* ''What We Lose'' (2017)
* ''Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves'', edited by
Glory Edim (2018)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemmons, Zinzi
African-American women writers
Living people
21st-century American women writers
Writers from Pennsylvania
American women novelists
21st-century American novelists
American people of South African descent
Brown University alumni
1985 births
African-American novelists
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women