Raven Leilani

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Raven Leilani
Born (1990-08-26) August 26, 1990 (age 33)
Pen nameRaven Leilani
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMarist College
New York University
Website
ravenleilani.weebly.com

Raven Leilani Baptiste (born August 26, 1990)[1] is an American writer who publishes under the name Raven Leilani. Her debut novel Luster was released in 2020 to critical acclaim.[2]

Early life and education

Leilani grew up in a family of artists in the Bronx before they moved to a suburb of Albany, New York.[2] She grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, and later left the church.[3] Having attended an art high school, Leilani expected to become a visual artist.[2] She graduated Marist College located in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2012, where she studied English and psychology.[2][3]

Her first job was as an imaging specialist at Ancestry.com, having previously worked in the archives of Marist College as an undergraduate. Later, she worked at a scientific journal, for the US Department of Defense, and as a delivery person for Postmates in Washington, D.C.[2] She also worked as an archivist at Macmillan.[4] In 2017, she began pursuing her MFA at New York University, where she studied under Zadie Smith and with writers Katie Kitamura, and Jonathan Safran Foer.[3][2] She now lives in Brooklyn.[3]

Career

Leilani's debut novel Luster received significant attention at its publishing. The book's publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux named the book its novel of August 2020 as part of their "Dare to Imagine" campaign.[2] It is also part of Marie Claire's book club and has been lauded by outlets including Elle, the HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and The New York Times.[5][6] It has been praised by Carmen Maria Machado, Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, and Zadie Smith.[2][3][7] Kirkus Reviews awarded Luster the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction.[8] Luster was also awarded the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize,[3][9] the 2020 John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards,[10] the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize,[11] and the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award[12]

Leilani's writing is influenced by her background as a visual artist, her life experiences, poetry, and a love of comic books and music.

The Cut,[14] and Vogue.[15]

Works

Novels

Short stories

References

  1. ^ Sanchez, Brandon (October 2, 2020). "The startling debut of Raven Leilani". America Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i de León, Concepción (July 31, 2020). "Raven Leilani, a Flâneur Who Is Going Places". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Obaro, Tomi (August 4, 2020). "If You Like "Normal People," You'll Love "Luster"". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Varno, David (July 10, 2020). "Writers to Watch Fall 2020". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. ^ Epstein, Rachel (July 29, 2020). "'Luster' Is Marie Claire's August Book Club Pick". Marie Claire. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Fequiere, Roxanne (August 5, 2020). "Raven Leilani Is Your New Favorite Novelist". Elle. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  7. ^ Smith, Zadie (August 4, 2020). "Zadie Smith on Her Former Student Raven Leilani's Debut Novel". Harpers Bazaar. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  8. ^ "2020 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  9. ^ "Raven Leilani Wins the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize". The Center for Fiction. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  10. ^ Beer, Tom (March 25, 2021). "National Book Critics Circle Presents Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  11. ^ "Dylan Thomas Prize: New Yorker Raven Leilani wins accolade". BBC News. May 13, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  12. ^ "VCU Cabell First Novelist Award". firstnovelist.vcu.edu. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  13. ^ Leilani, Raven (July 23, 2020). "When I Left My Faith, I Went to Comic Con". Esquire. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  14. ^ Leilani, Raven (August 3, 2020). "Luster (excerpt)". The Cut. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  15. ^ Leilani, Raven (August 4, 2020). "Turning My Back on the Faith that Saved Me". Vogue. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  16. ^ Leilani, Raven (2019). "Hard Water". Cosmonauts Avenue. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  17. S2CID 241706744. Archived
    from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  18. ^ Leilani, Raven (January 28, 2019). "Airplane Mode". SmokeLong Quarterly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raven_Leilani&oldid=1220979222"