World Literary Awards

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Yona Harvey

ヨナ・ハーヴィー

Yona Harvey

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1974 （Cincinnati, Ohio, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Cincinnati, Ohio → Washington, D.C. (attended Howard University) → Columbus, Ohio (attended Ohio State University) → Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (residence/work) → Northampton, Massachusetts (Smith College)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Professor, Comic writer
Active Years
2000-

Education

Howard University
English
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Country: United States
Undergraduate degree in English. Classmates included Ta-Nehisi Coates and others.
Ohio State University
English
Degree: Master of Arts
Country: United States
Completed a graduate degree in English.
University of Pittsburgh
Library and Information Science
Degree: Master of Library and Information Science
Country: United States
Earned an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science).

Awards

Kate Tufts Discovery Award
2014
Work: Hemming the Water
Organization: Tufts Poetry Awards (Claremont Graduate University)
Result: 受賞
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
2014
Work: Hemming the Water
Category: 詩
Organization: Hurston/Wright Foundation
Result: ファイナリスト
Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Awards
2016
Category: Established Artist
Organization: The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments
Result: 受賞
Individual Artist Grant (Nonfiction)
Organization: The Pittsburgh Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Hemming the Water

2013 Poetry collection

Debut poetry collection that weaves multiple voices to explore the lives, imaginations, family, grief, and mental health of Black American women.

Black womanhoodIdentityFamilyLossMental health

Bibliography

  • Hemming the Water (2013)
  • The Subject of Retreat (poem, 2015)
  • Hurricane (poem, 2013)
  • Gingivitis, Notes on Fear (poem, 2013)
  • Selected poems (online)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical and musical dictionPolyphonic (multiple voices)Concise, powerful short-form techniques
Recurring Motifs
Visibility and invisibility of Black womenHair and clothing as everyday signifiersParenting and decisions not to parentMental health and loss

Legacy

Recognized as an important contemporary American poet. Winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award for Hemming the Water and one of the first Black women to write for Marvel Comics (World of Wakanda), marking contributions to both poetry and comics.

Quotes

  • I am interested in spanning genres to express the diverse lives and experiences of Black American women through literature... the visibility and invisibility of Black women, our mental health and self-care, and the evidence of our imaginations in society as manifested in our hair, clothing, speech, parenting, decisions not to parent, and interactions with other women.
    Source: Artist statement (yonaharvey.com, 2012) (2012)

Trivia

  • One of the first two Black women to write for Marvel Comics (alongside Roxane Gay).
  • Was married to poet Terrance Hayes; the couple later divorced and have two children.
  • Has written about her sister's death after seeking psychiatric help and has worked on a memoir related to that experience.