American writer (born 1985)
Zinzi Clemmons
(born 1985) is an American writer. She is known for her 2017
debut novel
What We Lose
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Born in 1985 to a
multi-ethnic
South African
mother from an upper-middle-class family in
Johannesburg
[1]
and
African-American
father raised in
Jamaica, Queens
, Zinzi Clemmons grew up in
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
[2]
and spent summers in South Africa.
[3]
Rapper
Phife Dawg
, of the group
A Tribe Called Quest
, was her cousin.
[4]
Clemmons attended
Brown University
as an undergraduate, studying
critical theory
, then earned an
MFA
in
fiction
at
Columbia University
, where she worked with
Paul Beatty
.
[1]
In 2012 she moved home and paused the novel she was working on to care for her mother who was dying of cancer.
[3]
She began keeping a diary of the experience, which later served as some of the source material for her first novel.
[3]
Clemmons is married to poet and translator
Andre Naffis-Sahely
.
[3]
They live in
Culver City
, near
Los Angeles
.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
While still at Columbia, Clemmons founded Apogee, an online magazine focused on art engaged with issues of identity.
[3]
Clemmons' debut novel
What We Lose
was published by
Viking
in 2017.
[3]
[1]
[5]
[6]
The book was loosely based on Clemmons' own experience being the primary caregiver for her mother when she died of cancer, and was described by
The Guardian
as "highly experimental, told in intimate vignettes including blogposts, photos, hand-drawn charts and hip-hop lyrics".
[7]
It received broad critical acclaim, with
Vogue
calling
What We Lose
the best debut novel of the year.
[1]
Writing in
The New Yorker
,
Doreen St. Felix
situated the book as part of the literary canon of the
black diaspora
, noting its thematic emphasis on haunting.
[8]
In 2017, the
National Book Foundation
named Clemmons to its annual "5 under 35" list, selected by
Angela Flournoy
.
[9]
The same year, she announced she would no longer write for the
Lenny Letter
and asked other women of color to join her
[10]
after
Lenny
's founder
Lena Dunham
issued a statement defending coworker
Murray Miller
, who had been accused of rape by
Aurora Perrineau
,
[11]
a biracial actress.
[12]
[13]
In May 2018, Clemmons accused the writer
Junot Diaz
of sexual harassment at a workshop when she was a graduate student,
[14]
[15]
following a confrontation with Diaz at the
Sydney Writers' Festival
.
[16]
[17]
Diaz later denied the allegations.
[18]
[19]
The public response sparked some controversy among
feminist
academics regarding how race and ethnicity affects the handling of sexual harassment allegations in the context of the
Me Too movement
.
[20]
After an investigation, it was determined that Diaz kissed her on her cheek.
[21]
Awards
[
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]
Publications
[
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]
- What We Lose
(2017)
- Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
, edited by
Glory Edim
(2018)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
O'Grady, Megan (July 20, 2017).
"Zinzi Clemmons Has Written the Debut Novel of the Year"
.
Vogue
. Retrieved
May 9,
2018
.
- ^
Derakhshani, Tirdad,
"Swarthmore native Zinzi Clemmons on her debut novel about 'sex and death'"
,
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 11, 2017.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
French, Agatha (July 20, 2017).
"Debut novelist Zinzi Clemmons is frank and experimental in 'What We Lose'
"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
May 9,
2018
.
- ^
Clemmons, Zinzi,
"A Gritty Little Something on the New York Street"
,
The Paris Review
, March 25, 2016.
- ^
Crosley, Sloane (July 18, 2017).
"What to Read Right Now: Al Gore's An Inconvenient Sequel, Zinzi Clemmons's Powerful Debut, and More"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
May 9,
2018
.
- ^
Weiss-Meyer, Amy (August 1, 2017).
"
'What We Lose' Is a Striking Debut Novel About Familial Loss"
.
The Atlantic
. Retrieved
May 9,
2018
.
- ^
Bausells, Marta (August 10, 2017).
"Zinzi Clemmons on her first novel: 'I'm proud of it, because I didn't hold anything back'
"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
January 13,
2018
.
- ^
St. Felix, Doreen (October 31, 2017).
"What We're Reading This Week"
.
The New Yorker
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Silman, Anna (September 25, 2017).
"The National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' Are All Women This Year"
.
The Cut
. New York Magazine
. Retrieved
May 10,
2018
.
- ^
"US writer Zinzi Clemmons accuses Girls star Lena Dunham of 'hipster racism'
"
.
Newsbeat
.
BBC
. November 20, 2017
. Retrieved
January 13,
2018
.
- ^
Crucchiola, Jordan.
"Writer Leaves Lenny Letter Citing Lena Dunham's 'Well-Known Racism'
"
.
Vulture
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Kang, Biba (November 18, 2017).
"Lena Dunham has failed women of colour by discrediting Aurora Perrineau's rape allegations"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on May 7, 2022
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Hughes, William.
"Former Lenny Letter writer Zinzi Clemmons denounces Lena Dunham, accuses her of "hipster racism"
"
.
The A.V. Club
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Alter, Alexandra; Bromwich, Jonah E.; Cave, Damien (May 4, 2018).
"The Writer Zinzi Clemmons Accuses Junot Diaz of Forcibly Kissing Her"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Villareal, Alexandra (May 5, 2018).
"Author Junot Diaz Faces Sexual Misconduct Allegations"
.
Associated Press News
.
- ^
Stefansky, Emma (May 5, 2018).
"Junot Diaz Withdraws from Writers' Festival After Claims of Sexual Harassment"
.
Vanity Fair
.
- ^
Jamieson, Amber; Levy, Dara (May 4, 2018).
"Junot Diaz Has Withdrawn From A Writers Festival After Being Accused Of Forcibly Kissing Zinzi Clemmons"
.
BuzzFeed News
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Shanahan, Mark; Ebbert, Stephanie (June 30, 2018).
"Junot Diaz case may be a #MeToo turning point"
.
The Boston Globe
. Retrieved
July 31,
2018
.
- ^
Schaub, Michael (July 2, 2018).
"Junot Diaz denies misconduct allegations; his accusers respond"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
Flaherty, Colleen (May 29, 2018).
"Junot Diaz, Feminism and Ethnicity"
.
Inside Higher Ed
.
- ^
"Junot Diaz in limbo | Semafor"
. November 28, 2022.
- ^
"What We Lose"
.
Goodreads
. Retrieved
March 2,
2022
.
- ^
"2018 Winners"
.
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction
. Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). October 19, 2020
. Retrieved
March 2,
2022
.
- ^
Weisman, Jonathan (March 6, 2018).
"Awards: CWA Diamond Dagger; Aspen Words Shortlist"
.
Shelf Awareness
. Retrieved
March 1,
2022
.
- ^
Murua, James
(July 4, 2018).
"Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Awards 2018 nominees announced"
.
Writing Africa
. Retrieved
May 11,
2024
.
External links
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