Angie Cruz

Cruz was born in Washington Heights, New York City on February 24, 1972. She is of Dominican descent, and often traveled back and forth between New York City and the Dominican Republic while growing up. She is currently a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. In high school, she studied visual arts, then realized she wanted to go into fashion. Cruz later studied at SUNY Binghamton and obtained her bachelor’s, then later received her master’s from New York University.

Cruz treats themes of home, gender, race, displacement, and working class life in her work. She has published two novels and is now working on a screenplay for a movie version of one of them, Soledad. Cruz has targeted her "ideal readership" to be women. Cruz writes novels that are close to home for her and that others can relate to as well and act as a means of giving readers hope. Cruz's most recent novel is Dominicana. Publishers Weekly described the work as "Enthralling...Ana’s growth and gradually blooming wisdom is described with a raw, expressive voice. Cruz's winning novel will linger in the reader’s mind long after the close of the story." Dominicana was shortlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction.[1]

Growing up, education was extremely important to her family. Angie Cruz and her brother both went to college as well as pursued graduate studies.[2] “I went to catholic school through the 8th grade,” she said.[2] She majored in Art at the LaGuardia School of the Arts.[2] Then she went to (FIT)- Fashion Institute of Technology intending to study fashion design.[2] It took her about 4 years to finish a two-year college degree because she was working full-time.[2] She now holds a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University.[3]

Her mother went to college and her two brothers, who she brought to the country later, both obtained masters degrees.[2] One of her Uncles, went to SUNY Stony Brook and later to UCLA to study Spanish literature and the other Uncle did Computer Science at City College and math education.[2] Her mother studied accounting, and she was the last person in her family to finish college, despite being the first person to start college.[2] She was trying to get all her children through college and it hindered her own effort to finish college.[2]

She has received numerous grants for her teaching and writing, including the Barbara Deming Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Camargo Fellowship, Van Lier Literary Fellowship, and NALAC Fund for the Arts Fellowship.[3] She has also been awarded residencies: Yaddo, The Macdowell Colony, Fundacion Valparaiso, La Napoule Foundation and The Millay Colony.[3]

• Soledad. Simon & Schuster. 2001. ISBN 9780743212021.
• Let It Rain Coffee. Simon & Schuster. 2005. ISBN 9780743212045.
• Dominicana. Flatiron Books. 2019. ISBN 9781250205933.

• Introductory arts article about Cruz
• Article by Angie Cruz about Washington Heights
• Article on Dominicans living in NYC in which Angie Cruz is quoted
• Conversation between Cruz and fellow novelist Nelly Rosario
• Latorre, Sobeira. "Shifting Borders: An Interview with Angie Cruz". ProQuest 748658820. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)