Elizabeth Nunez

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Elizabeth Nunez
at 2016 Fall for the Book
at 2016 Fall for the Book
OccupationProfessor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMarian College,
New York University
Genresnovel, memoir
Signature

Elizabeth Nunez is a Trinidadian American novelist and Distinguished pProfessor 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] Nunez is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby.[5]

Biography[]

Early life[]

Nunez began writing as early as nine years of age and won the first-place prize for the "Tiny Tots" writing contest in the Trinidad Guardian.[6] 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.

Having arrived in the United States aged 19, Nunez earned a BA in English from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and an MA and PhD in Literature from New York University.[6] She began teaching at Medgar Evers College in 1972, a year after the college was established, and was instrumental in developing its writing curriculum.[6] She is a Distinguished Professor at Hunter College, where she teaches courses on Caribbean Women Writers and Creative Writing.[7] The author of eight novels, she is also 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] Her memoir "Discovering my Mother" was published in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby.[5]

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,[8] which received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the under her direction as its co-director from 1986 to 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. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "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. ^ Jump up to: a b Delgado, Anjanette. "New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Voices from the Gap". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Elizabeth Nunez". Akashic Books. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  8. ^ Lee, Felicia R. (3 April 2000). "Black Writers Warn of Losing The Momentum". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2012.

External links[]

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