Angela Flournoy

Flournoy at the 2016 Texas Book Festival.

Angela Flournoy is an African-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, nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and named a New York Times Notable Book of 2015.[1][2] She was also listed on the National Book Awards' 5 under 35 list, nominated by her former teacher ZZ Packer.[1][3]

Early life and education

Flournoy was raised in Southern California. Her mother was from Los Angeles and father from Detroit.[3] Flournoy attended the Iowa Writer's Workshop and the University of Southern California.[3] She started developing her first novel, The Turner House while attending the Iowa Workshop, where she frequently traveled to Detroit to visit her father's family.[1]

Career

After graduating, Flournoy taught writing for the University of Iowa, Trinity Washington University, and the DC Public Library.[3][4] She published The Turner House in 2015.[5] The New York Times called it "an engrossing and remarkably mature first novel...assured and memorable."[6] BuzzFeed describes Flournoy as "the most lauded debut novelist in America," noting her many awards and honors, as well as The Turner House's strong sales: "According to Bookscan, which tracks around 70% of U.S. book sales, her book has sold over 15,000 copies in paperback and hardcover as of April [2016]; anything over 10,000 is generally considered high for literary fiction."[7]

Flournoy attributes her understanding of character development to Zora Neale Hurston’s Mules and Men.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Vitcavage, Adam (October 27, 2005). "The Tortoise, Not the Hare: The Millions Interviews Angela Flournoy". The Millions. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ Philyaw, Deesha (February 13, 2016). "The Saturday Rumpus Interview: Angela Flournoy". The Rumpus.net. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35, 2015 — Angela Flournoy". www.nationalbook.org. National Book Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Angela Flournoy". The Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Zoe Zolbrod (June 18, 2015). ""There Aint No Haints in Detroit!": An Interview With Author Angela Flournoy". Belt Magazine. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Matthew (April 29, 2015). "'The Turner House,' by Angela Flournoy". The New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ Shafrir, Doree (April 25, 2016). "Why America Is Ready For Novelist Angela Flournoy". BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ Fassler, Joe (September 1, 2015). "Subverting the Rule of 'Write What You Know'". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
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