LaShonda K. Barnett

Last updated
LaShonda Katrice Barnett
Born (1974-05-27) May 27, 1974 (age 50)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation
  • Author
  • playwright
  • radio host
Education University of Missouri–Kansas City (BA)
Sarah Lawrence College (MA)
College of William & Mary (PhD)
Notable awards Stonewall Book Award (2016)

LaShonda Katrice Barnett (born May 27, 1974) is an American author, playwright, and former radio host. She has published short stories, edited books on African-American music, and written a trilogy of full-length plays. [1]

Contents

Her 2015 debut novel Jam on the Vine [2] received a Stonewall Book Award by the American Library Association (2016). [3] The novel courses the life of African American journalist Ivoe Williams. The book was named a finalist in the lesbian fiction category at the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards. [4]

Barnett's short fiction appears in numerous anthologies and in literary journals such as The Chicago Tribune ("Printer's Row"), Callaloo, Gemini Magazine, Guernica Magazine , Foglilfter Journal, Peacock Journal, and Amherst College's Common Literary Magazine, among other publications.

Biography

Barnett was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1974 [5] and grew up as one of five siblings in Park Forest, Cook County, Illinois.

Barnett received a B.A. in English Language and Literature and Linguistics (with language specialization in German and Russian) from the University of Missouri and an M.A. in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College. [6] She earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William & Mary. [1] Barnett has been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority since 1994. She lives in Chicago.[ citation needed ]

She has held residencies at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts-Martha's Vineyard, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Fine Arts Work Center. [1] In 2015, she was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.[ citation needed ] She has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Brown University, Northwestern University and Syracuse University on history and literature of the African diaspora and Women's Studies. She hosted her own jazz program, Mapping Jazz, for WBAI (99.5 FM, NYC). [1]

In 2007, Barnett's personal interviews on creative process with women musicians resulted in the book I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters On Their Craft and Off The Record: Conversations With African American & Brazilian Women Musicians in 2015.[ citation needed ]

Barnett received grants for her work from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities; and awards from the New York Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the College Language Association (for best short fiction). [1]

Works

Books

Short stories

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Allison</span> American writer (born 1949)

Dorothy Allison is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of awards for her writing, including several Lambda Literary Awards. In 2014, Allison was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Anne Peters</span> American writer (1952–2023)

Julie Anne Peters was an American author of young adult fiction. Peters published 20 works, mostly novels, geared toward children and adolescents, many of which feature LGBT characters. In addition to the United States, Peters's books have been published in numerous countries, including South Korea, China, Croatia, Germany, France, Italy, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil. Her 2004 book Luna was the first young-adult novel with a transgender character to be released by a mainstream publisher.

Abha Dawesar is an Indian-born novelist writing in English. Her novels include Babyji, Family Values, That Summer in Paris, and Miniplanner. Her 2005 novel Babyji won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and the Stonewall Book Award.

Ellen Galford is an American-born Scottish writer. She was born in the US and migrated to the United Kingdom in 1971, after a brief marriage in New York City. She came out in the mid-1970s. She has lived in Glasgow and London and now lives in Edinburgh with her partner. She is Jewish. Her works include four lesbian novels:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian literature</span> Subgenre of literature with lesbian themes

Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. A similar term is sapphic literature, encompassing works that feature love between women that are not necessarily lesbian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ReShonda Tate</span> American journalist

ReShonda Tate is an American author and journalist. Tate is also known as "ReShonda Tate Billingsley."

Martin Hyatt is an American contemporary writer. Born in Louisiana, he later attended Goddard College, Eugene Lang College, and received an MFA in creative writing from The New School. Hyatt's fiction is usually set in the working-class American South. His work is characterized by its lyricism and realism. He has taught writing at a number of colleges and universities, including Hofstra University and Parsons School of Design. He has taught Creative Writing at School of Visual Arts, St. Francis College, and Southern New Hampshire University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewelle Gomez</span> American author, poet, critic and playwright (born 1948)

Jewelle Lydia Gomez is an American author, poet, critic and playwright. She lived in New York City for 22 years, working in public television, theater, as well as philanthropy, before relocating to the West Coast. Her writing—fiction, poetry, essays and cultural criticism—has appeared in a wide variety of outlets, both feminist and mainstream. Her work centers on women's experiences, particularly those of LGBTQ women of color. She has been interviewed for several documentaries focused on LGBT rights and culture.

Carolyn Ferrell is an American short story writer and novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maaza Mengiste</span> Ethiopian-American writer (born 1974)

Maaza Mengiste is an Ethiopian-American writer. Her novels include Beneath the Lion's Gaze (2010) and The Shadow King (2019), which was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellis Avery</span> American writer (1972–2019)

Ellis Avery was an American writer. She won two Stonewall Book Awards, one in 2008 for her debut novel The Teahouse Fire and one in 2013 for her second novel The Last Nude. The Teahouse Fire also won a Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Debut Fiction and an Ohioana Library Fiction Award in 2007. She self-published her memoir, The Family Tooth, in 2015. Her final book, Tree of Cats, was independently published posthumously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinelo Okparanta</span> Nigerian-American writer

Chinelo Okparanta is a Nigerian-American novelist and short-story writer. She was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where she was raised until the age of 10, when she emigrated to the United States with her family.

Casey Plett is a Canadian writer, best known for her novel Little Fish, her Lambda Literary Award winning short story collection, A Safe Girl to Love, and her Giller Prize-nominated short story collection, A Dream of a Woman. Plett is a transgender woman, and she often centers this experience in her writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Fallenberg</span> American-born writer residing in Israel

Evan Fallenberg is an American-born writer and translator residing in Israel. His debut novel Light Fell, published in 2008, won the Stonewall Book Award and the Edmund White Award, and was a shortlisted Lambda Literary Award nominee for Debut Fiction at the 21st Lambda Literary Awards. His second novel, When We Danced on Water, was published in 2011 by HarperPerennial, and his third, The Parting Gift, by Other Press in 2018. He has also published English translations of several Israeli writers, including Meir Shalev, Hanoch Levin, Ron Leshem and Batya Gur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawn Stewart Ruff</span> American novelist and editor (born 1959)

Shawn Stewart Ruff is an American novelist and editor, who won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction at the 21st Lambda Literary Awards in 2008 for his debut novel Finlater. He has since published the novels Toss and Whirl and Pass (2010) and GJS II (2016), and the novella One/10th (2013).

SJ Sindu is a genderqueer Sri Lankan American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Marriage of a Thousand Lies, was released by Soho Press in June 2017, won the Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and was named an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her second novel, Blue-Skinned Gods, was released on November 17, 2021, also by Soho Press. Her second chapbook Dominant Genes, which won the 2020 Black River Chapbook Competition, was released in February 2022 by Black Lawrence Press. Her middle-grade fantasy graphic novel, Shakti, was published in 2023 by HarperCollins. Her work has been published in Brevity, The Normal School, The Los Angeles Review of Books, apt, Vinyl Poetry, PRISM International, VIDA, Black Girl Dangerous, rkvry quarterly, and elsewhere. Sindu was a 2013 Lambda Literary Fellow, holds an MA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and a PhD in Creative Writing from Florida State University. She currently teaches Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdi Nazemian</span> Iranian-American author, screenwriter and producer

Abdi Nazemian is an Iranian-American author, screenwriter, and producer. His debut novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction at the 27th Lambda Literary Awards. He has subsequently received a second Lambda Literary Award for his young adult novel Only This Beautiful Moment, as well as a Stonewall Book Award for Only This Beautiful Moment and a Stonewall Honor for Like a Love Story, both from the American Library Association.

Black lesbian literature is a subgenre of lesbian literature and African American literature that focuses on the experiences of black women who identify as lesbians. The genre features poetry and fiction about black lesbian characters as well as non-fiction essays which address issues faced by black lesbians. Prominent figures within the genre include Ann Allen Shockley, Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke, and Barbara Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kacen Callender</span> Saint Thomian author (born 1989)

Kacen Callender is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award—winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child (2018). Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award, and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature.

<i>Pet</i> (novel) 2019 young adult novel by Akwaeke Emezi

Pet is a 2019 young adult fantasy/speculative fiction novel by Nigerian non-binary author Akwaeke Emezi. It was followed by a prequel Bitter, released in 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "About". LaShondaBarnett.com. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
  2. "NPR". Black And Female In Jim Crow Era, A Reporter In 'Jam! On the Vine'. NPR. 2015-02-08.
  3. "2016 Stonewall Book Awards Announced". News and Press Center, American Library Association. January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  4. Parrott, Kiera (March 8, 2016). "2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Library Journal Reviews. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  5. "Booksmith".
  6. Helsel, Amber (October 17, 2016). "LaShonda Katrice Barnett". Jackson Free Press.
  7. Taylor, Elizabeth (February 13, 2015). "Review: 'Jam on the Vine' by LaShonda Katrice Barnett". Chicago Tribune.