Elizabeth Nunez

Elizabeth Nunez
at 2016 Fall for the Book
Occupation professor
Nationality American
Alma mater Marian College,
New York University
Genres novel, memoir

Elizabeth Nunez is a Trinidadian American novelist and distinguished professor of English at Hunter College–CUNY, New York City.

Her novels have won a number of awards: Prospero's Daughter received the New York Times Editors' Choice and 2006 Novel of the Year from Black Issues Book Review,[1] Bruised Hibiscus won the 2001 American Book Award,[2] and Beyond the Limbo Silence won the 1999 Independent Publishers Book Award.[3] In addition, Nunez was shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Discretion;[1] Boundaries was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice and nominated for a 2012 NAACP Image Award; and Anna In-Between was selected for the 2010 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for literary excellence as well as a New York Times Editors' Choice and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal.[4]

Biography

Early life

As early as nine-years of age Nunez began writing and won the first-place prize for the Tiny Tots writing contest in the Trinidad Guardian.[5] She emigrated from Trinidad to the United States after completing high school at the age of 19 in 1963.[1]

Career overview

Nunez at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.

Nunez arrived in the United States at age 19 to earn a BA in English from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a MA and PhD in Literature from New York University.[5] She began teaching at Medgar Evers College in 1972, a year after the college was established, and was instrumental in developing its writing curriculum.[5] Now, she is a distinguished professor at Hunter College and the author of eight novels as well as co-editor with Jennifer Sparrow of Stories from Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad, co-editor with Brenda Greene of the collection of essays Black Writers in the 90's, and author of several monographs of literary criticism.[1]

In addition to developing her writing and teaching career, Nunez has developed programming to support other writers of color. She is the co-founder of the National Black Writers Conference,[6] which received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Reed Foundation under her direction as its co-director from 1986-2000. Nunez also hosts a radio program on WBAI 99.5FM and chair of the PEN American Open Book Committee.[1]

Nunez was also the Executive Producer of the 2004 NY Emmy-nominated CUNY TV series Black Writers in America.[1]

Novels

  • When Rocks Dance (1986)
  • Beyond The Limbo Silence (1998)
  • Bruised Hibiscus (2000)
  • Discretion (2002)
  • Grace (2003)
  • Prospero's Daughter (2006)
  • Anna In Between (2010)
  • Boundaries (2011)
  • Not for Everyday Use (2014)
  • Even in Paradise (2016)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hunter College Faculty Profile". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  2. ↑ American Book Awards#2000 to 2009
  3. ↑ "CUNY News". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Elizabeth Nunez's Website".
  5. 1 2 3 "Voices from the Gap". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Lee, Felicia R. (2000-04-03). "Black Writers Warn of Losing The Momentum". New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.