Elizabeth Nunez

Elizabeth Nunez

at 2016 Fall for the Book
Occupation professor
Nationality American
Ethnicity Trinidadian
Alma mater Marian College,
New York University
Genres novel, memoir

Elizabeth Nunez is a Trinidadian American novelist and distinguished professor 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;[4] 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.[5]

Biography

Early life

As early as nine-years old Nunez began writing and won the first place prize for the Tiny Tots writing contest in the Trinidad Guardian.[6] Nunez emigrated from Trinidad to the United States after completing high school at age 19 in 1963.[7]

Career overview

Nunez at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.

Nunez arrived in the United States at age 19 to earn a BA in English from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a MA and PhD in Literature from New York University.[8] Nunez began teaching at Medgar Evers College in 1972, a year after the college was established, and was instrumental in developing its writing curriculum.[9] Now, she is a distinguished professor at Hunter College and the author of eight novels as well as 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.[10]

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,[11] which received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Reed Foundation under her direction as its co-director from 1986-2000. Nunez also hosts a radio program on WBAI 99.5FM and chair of the PEN American Open Book Committee.[12]

Nunez was also the Executive Producer of the 2004 NY Emmy-nominated CUNY TV series Black Writers in America.[13]

Novels

References

  1. ↑ "Hunter College Faculty Profile". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  2. ↑ American Book Awards#2000 to 2009
  3. ↑ "CUNY News". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Hunter College Faculty Profile".
  5. ↑ "Elizabeth Nunez's Website".
  6. ↑ "Voices from the Gap". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Hunter College Faculty Profile". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Voices from the Gap".
  9. ↑ "Voices from the Gap". Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Hunter College Facutly Profile".
  11. ↑ Lee, Felicia R. (2000-04-03). "Black Writers Warn of Losing The Momentum — New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  12. ↑ "Hunter College Faculty Profile".
  13. ↑ "Hunter College Faculty Profile".
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