Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi
Born 1989
Ghana
Education BA, Stanford University
Alma mater MFA, Iowa Writers' Workshop
Genre Novel
Notable works Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist whose debut novel, Homegoing, brought her, at age 26, National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" honors for 2016.[1]

Early life and education

Born in Mampong, Ghana,[2] she is the daughter of Kwaku Gyasi, a professor of French at University of Alabama in Huntsville, and her mother Sophia, who is a nurse.[3][4] Her family moved to the United States in 1991 when her father was completing his Ph.D. at Ohio State University.[2][5] The family also lived in Illinois and Tennessee, and from age ten, Gyasi was reared in Huntsville, Alabama.[2][6] She lives in Berkeley, California.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Stanford, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[6]

Critical reception

Critics have reviewed Gyasi's first novel with almost universally high acclaim. The New York Times Book Review listed it as an Editor's Choice, writing, "This wonderful debut by a Ghanaian-American novelist follows the shifting fortunes of the progeny of two half sisters, unknown to each other, in West Africa and America."[7] Ta-Nehisi Coates selected Homegoing for the National Book Foundation's 2016 "5 under 35" award.[6] Time's Sarah Begley called it "one of the summer’s most-anticipated novels".[5] Jennifer Maloney of Wall Street Journal commented that the book that sold for more than US$1,000,000 even before publication is "flecked with magic, evoking folk tales passed down from parent to child", also noting that it has "structural and thematic similarities to Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1976 book, Roots".[2] Christian Lorentzen of New York Magazine said, "Each chapter is tightly plotted, and there are suspenseful, even spectacular climaxes."[8] Anita Felicelli of the San Francisco Chronicle said Gyasi is "a young writer whose stellar instincts, sturdy craftsmanship and penetrating wisdom seem likely to continue apace — much to our good fortune as readers".[9]

Isabel Wilkerson of the New York Times described her as "a stirringly gifted young writer".[10] Wilkerson also commented on the difference between the lyrical language of the West African passages and the "coarser language and surface descriptions of life in America".[10] Wilkerson expressed some disappointment: "It is dispiriting to encounter such a worn-out cliché — that African-Americans are hostile to reading and education — in a work of such beauty."[10]

Leilani Clark at KQED Arts wrote: "Until every American embarks on a major soul-searching about the venal, sordid racial history of the United States, and their own position in relation to it, the bloodshed, tears, and anger will keep on. Let Homegoing be an inspiration to begin that process."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "100 Notable Books of 2016". The New York Times. 2016-11-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Maloney, Jennifer (2016-05-26). "Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Born in Ghana and Raised in the U.S.". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  3. ↑ Anderson-Maples, Joyce (2016-12-02). "UAH welcomes Yaa Gyasi, author of The New York Times best-selling book Homegoing". The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  4. ↑ Haskin, Shelly (August 28, 2016). "How an Alabama author's debut novel landed her on 'The Daily Show'". AL.com. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Begley, Sarah. "A 26-Year-old Looks to the Past for Her Literary Debut". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  6. 1 2 3 "Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing, 5 Under 35, 2016, National Book Foundation". www.nationalbook.org. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Editors' Choice". The New York Times Book Review. 2016-06-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  8. ↑ "Homegoing: Yaa Gyasi's Rich, Epic Slave-Trade Debut". Vulture. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  9. ↑ "'Homegoing,' by Yaa Gyasi". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  10. 1 2 3 Wilkerson, Isabel (2016-06-06). "Isabel Wilkerson Reviews Yaa Gyasi's 'Homegoing'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  11. ↑ "Book Review: 'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi". KQED Arts. Retrieved 2016-12-03.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.