Gotham Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (2023) Nominee
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
メッカ・ジャミラ・サリバン
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- Harlem, New York
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Professor
- Active Years
- 2008-
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (Associate Professor)
- Influenced By
- Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, Jamaica Kincaid
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith College | Afro-American Studies | — | BA | — | United States |
| Temple University | English and Creative Writing | — | MA | — | United States |
| University of Pennsylvania | English Literature | — | PhD | — | United States |
Smith College
Afro-American Studies
Degree:
BA
Year of Graduation:
2003
Country:
United States
Temple University
English and Creative Writing
Degree:
MA
Year of Graduation:
2006
Country:
United States
University of Pennsylvania
English Literature
Degree:
PhD
Year of Graduation:
2012
Country:
United States
Doctoral thesis: Interstitial Voices: The Poetics of Difference in Afrodiasporic Women's Literature (2012)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Charles R. Johnson Fiction Award | — | — | — | 受賞 |
| 2011 | Emerging Writer Fellowship | — | — | Center for Fiction | 受賞 |
| 2012 | Alan Collins Scholarship | — | — | Bread Loaf Writers' Conference | 受賞 |
| 2018 | Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers | Blue Talk & Love | — | Lambda Literary Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2021 | William Sanders Scarborough Prize | The Poetics of Difference: Queer Feminist Forms in the African Diaspora | — | Modern Language Association | 受賞 |
| 2023 | Gotham Book Prize (Finalist) | Big Girl | — | — | ファイナリスト |
Charles R. Johnson Fiction Award
2008
Result:
受賞
Emerging Writer Fellowship
2011
Organization:
Center for Fiction
Result:
受賞
Alan Collins Scholarship
2012
Organization:
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Result:
受賞
Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers
2018
Work:
Blue Talk & Love
Organization:
Lambda Literary Foundation
Result:
受賞
William Sanders Scarborough Prize
2021
Work:
The Poetics of Difference: Queer Feminist Forms in the African Diaspora
Organization:
Modern Language Association
Result:
受賞
Gotham Book Prize (Finalist)
2023
Work:
Big Girl
Result:
ファイナリスト
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Blue Talk & Love
2015 Short story collectionA collection of short stories focused on Black queer women, exploring love, identity, and community.
Black queer experienceLove and relationshipsCommunity
The Poetics of Difference: Queer Feminist Forms in the African Diaspora
2021 Non-fiction / CriticismAn academic study exploring queer feminist forms in African diasporic literature.
Queer theoryFeminismAfrican diasporic literature
Big Girl
2022 Novel / Coming-of-ageA coming-of-age story set in 1990s Harlem about an eight-year-old obese Black girl growing up and navigating family, body, and sexuality.
Coming-of-ageBody and eating cultureRace and community
Bibliography
- Blue Talk & Love (2015)
- The Poetics of Difference: Queer Feminist Forms in the African Diaspora (2021)
- Big Girl (2022)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Lyrical, poetic proseCritically engaged style rooted in Black queer perspectives
- Recurring Motifs
- Identity and self-formationBodies and eating cultureSense of place in Harlem
Legacy
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan is known for her fiction centering Black queer women and her scholarly criticism. She has influenced younger writers and scholars and contributed to expanding diverse voices in contemporary American literature.
Quotes
-
I think coming-of-age stories are important—books I read when I was young had a significant influence on how I write.
Source: Interview with Bomb (2023), et al. (2023)
Trivia
- Born and raised in Harlem, New York.
- Associate professor of English at Georgetown University.
- Won the Judith A. Markowitz Award in 2018 for Blue Talk & Love.
- Debut novel Big Girl (2022) was a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize.