American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 38 (2017) Winner
Yaa Gyasi
ヤー・ギャシ
Yaa Gyasi
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1989 （Mampong, Ghana）
- Nationality
- Ghana, United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Mampong, Ghana → Ohio, USA → Illinois, USA → Tennessee, USA → Huntsville, Alabama, USA → Brooklyn, New York, USA
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Writer
- Active Years
- 2012-
- Affiliations
- Royal Society of Literature (RSL International Writers)
- Memberships
- Royal Society of Literature (International Writers)
- Influenced By
- Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez, James Baldwin, Edward P. Jones, Jhumpa Lahiri
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford University | School of Humanities and Sciences | English | BA | — | United States |
| University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop) | Creative Writing (MFA program) | Iowa Writers' Workshop | MFA | — | United States |
Stanford University
School of Humanities and Sciences
/ English
Degree:
BA
Country:
United States
Earned a Bachelor of Arts in English
University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop)
Creative Writing (MFA program)
/ Iowa Writers' Workshop
Degree:
MFA
Country:
United States
Earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in creative writing
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | John Leonard Award (National Book Critics Circle) | Homegoing | — | National Book Critics Circle | 受賞 |
| 2016 | National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 | — | — | National Book Foundation | 選出 |
| 2017 | American Book Award | Homegoing | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2017 | Granta - Best of Young American Novelists | — | — | Granta | 選出 |
| 2017 | PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel | Homegoing | — | PEN/Hemingway | 受賞 |
| 2020 | Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature | — | — | Vilcek Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2020 | Great Immigrants Award | — | — | Carnegie Corporation of New York | 受賞 |
| 2021 | Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlisted) | Transcendent Kingdom | — | Women's Prize for Fiction | 候補（ショートリスト） |
| 2023 | Royal Society of Literature - International Writer | — | — | Royal Society of Literature | 選出 |
John Leonard Award (National Book Critics Circle)
2016
Work:
Homegoing
Organization:
National Book Critics Circle
Result:
受賞
National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35
2016
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
選出
American Book Award
2017
Work:
Homegoing
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Granta - Best of Young American Novelists
2017
Organization:
Granta
Result:
選出
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
2017
Work:
Homegoing
Organization:
PEN/Hemingway
Result:
受賞
Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature
2020
Organization:
Vilcek Foundation
Result:
受賞
Great Immigrants Award
2020
Organization:
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Result:
受賞
Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlisted)
2021
Work:
Transcendent Kingdom
Organization:
Women's Prize for Fiction
Result:
候補（ショートリスト）
Royal Society of Literature - International Writer
2023
Organization:
Royal Society of Literature
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1 appearances
-
Edition 42 (2017) Winner
Works
Major Works
Homegoing
2016 Historical fiction / Family sagaA multi-generational novel that begins in 18th-century Ghana with two half-sisters and follows their descendants across seven generations, exploring colonialism, slavery, and generational trauma.
LineageGenerational traumaColonialismSlaveryBlack and African identities
Transcendent Kingdom
2020 Contemporary fiction / Family dramaFollows Gifty, a neuroscience PhD student, as she grapples with her family's migration from Ghana to Alabama, her brother's overdose, her mother's depression, and the tensions between faith and science.
Immigrant experienceAddiction and recoveryDepression and mental healthFaith vs. scienceFamily relationships
Bad Blood
2021 Short storyA short story included in The 1619 Project anthology that examines how historical racism in healthcare affects the psyche and behavior of a young Black mother.
Racism and healthcareHistorical traumaMotherhood and anxiety
Bibliography
- Homegoing (2016)
- Transcendent Kingdom (2020)
- "Bad Blood" (short story in The 1619 Project, 2021)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Multi-generational, multi-perspective narrativeConcise and powerful proseStructure that moves between history and present
- Recurring Motifs
- Inherited memoriesFamilial legacies and debtsMigration and identityTransmission of trauma
Legacy
Yaa Gyasi achieved international recognition with her debut Homegoing, making a significant contribution to contemporary literature by addressing colonialism and its legacies through multi-generational narratives. She has been recognized as a leading young writer and has broadened conversations around immigrant and Black literatures.
Academic Societies
- Royal Society of Literature (RSL International Writers)
In Popular Culture
- Contributed a short story to The 1619 Project (2021)
Quotes
-
“White people, black authors are not your medicine.”
Source: The Guardian (op-ed) (2021)
Trivia
- Homegoing received multiple prepublication offers and Gyasi accepted a seven-figure advance from Knopf.
- She has said that reading Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon at age 17 inspired her to pursue writing.
- As a child she won a prize in the Reading Rainbow Young Writers contest, receiving a certificate signed by LeVar Burton.
- Her family moved to the United States in 1991; she was raised in Huntsville, Alabama.