Raven Leilani

Last updated

Raven Leilani
Born (1990-08-26) August 26, 1990 (age 33)
Pen nameRaven Leilani
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Marist College
New York University
Website
ravenleilani.weebly.com

Raven Leilani Baptiste (born August 26, 1990) [1] is an American writer who publishes under the name Raven Leilani. Her debut novel Luster was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Leilani grew up in a family of artists in the Bronx before they moved to a suburb of Albany, New York. [2] She grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, and later left the church. [3] Having attended an art high school, Leilani expected to become a visual artist. [2] She graduated Marist College located in Poughkeepsie, New York in 2012, where she studied English and psychology. [2] [3]

Her first job was as an imaging specialist at Ancestry.com, having previously worked in the archives of Marist College as an undergraduate. Later, she worked at a scientific journal, for the United States Department of Defense, and as a delivery person for Postmates in Washington, D.C. [2] She also worked as an archivist at Macmillan. [4] In 2017, she began pursuing her MFA at New York University, where she studied under Zadie Smith and with writers Katie Kitamura, and Jonathan Safran Foer. [3] [2] She now lives in Brooklyn. [3]

Career

Leilani's debut novel Luster received significant attention at its publishing. [5] The book's publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux named the book its novel of August 2020 as part of their "Dare to Imagine" campaign. [2] It is also part of Marie Claire's book club and has been lauded by outlets including Elle , the HuffPost , BuzzFeed News , and The New York Times . [6] [7] It has been praised by authors Carmen Maria Machado, Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, and Zadie Smith. [2] [3] [8] Kirkus Reviews awarded Luster the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. [9] Luster was also awarded the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, [3] [10] the 2020 John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards, [11] the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize, [12] and the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award [13]

Leilani's writing is influenced by her background as a visual artist, her life experiences, poetry, and a love of comic books and music. [2] She has written for publications including Esquire, [14] The Cut, [15] and Vogue. [16]

Works

Novels

Short stories

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References

  1. ↑ Sanchez, Brandon (October 2, 2020). "The startling debut of Raven Leilani". America Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 de León, Concepción (July 31, 2020). "Raven Leilani, a Flâneur Who Is Going Places". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Obaro, Tomi (August 4, 2020). "If You Like "Normal People," You'll Love "Luster"". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Varno, David (July 10, 2020). "Writers to Watch Fall 2020". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Book Marks reviews of Luster by Raven Leilani". Book Marks. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  6. ↑ Epstein, Rachel (July 29, 2020). "'Luster' Is Marie Claire's August Book Club Pick". Marie Claire. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  7. ↑ Fequiere, Roxanne (August 5, 2020). "Raven Leilani Is Your New Favorite Novelist". Elle. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  8. ↑ Smith, Zadie (August 4, 2020). "Zadie Smith on Her Former Student Raven Leilani's Debut Novel". Harpers Bazaar. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  9. ↑ "2020 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Raven Leilani Wins the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize". The Center for Fiction. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  11. ↑ Beer, Tom (March 25, 2021). "National Book Critics Circle Presents Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Dylan Thomas Prize: New Yorker Raven Leilani wins accolade". BBC News. May 13, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  13. ↑ "VCU Cabell First Novelist Award". firstnovelist.vcu.edu. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  14. ↑ Leilani, Raven (July 23, 2020). "When I Left My Faith, I Went to Comic Con". Esquire. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  15. ↑ Leilani, Raven (August 3, 2020). "Luster (excerpt)". The Cut. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  16. ↑ Leilani, Raven (August 4, 2020). "Turning My Back on the Faith that Saved Me". Vogue. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  17. ↑ Leilani, Raven (2019). "Hard Water". Cosmonauts Avenue. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ Leilani, Raven (January 20, 2020). "Breathing Exercise". The Yale Review. 107 (4): 40–50. doi:10.1111/yrev.13555. S2CID   241706744. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  19. ↑ Leilani, Raven (January 28, 2019). "Airplane Mode". SmokeLong Quarterly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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