A. J. Verdelle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
A. J. Verdelle
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| Born | 1960 (age 64–65) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | University of Chicago (BA, MA) Bard College (MFA) |
| Notable awards | Whiting Award (1996) |
| Parents | A. Y. Jones Patricia Howell Jones |
A. J. Verdelle was born in 1960 in Washington, D.C.. She is an American novelist and essay writer. Her books are published by well-known companies like Algonquin Books and Harper. She has also written essays for the Smithsonian and the Whitney Museum.
Contents
Who is A. J. Verdelle?
Early Life and Education
A. J. Verdelle's parents were A. Y. and Patricia Howell Jones. They were both from Washington, D.C. Her family has lived in Washington for many generations. They are descendants of a special community. This community was made up of free people of color. They lived in Washington in the 1800s.
Verdelle went to La Reine. This was a private Catholic girls' high school. It was located in Suitland, Maryland. This town is a suburb of Washington, D.C.
She graduated from the University of Chicago in 1982. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Later, in 1986, she earned a Master of Arts degree. This degree was in Applied Statistics. She then went to Bard College. There, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing in 1993.
Becoming a Writer
After finishing her statistics degree, Verdelle moved to Brooklyn, New York. In 1988, she started her own company. This company offered consulting services in statistics.
Her first novel was called The Good Negress. It won awards and was published in 1995. Many people praised the book. It was released in paperback in 1996. The famous author Toni Morrison called the novel "truly extraordinary."
A. J. Verdelle has also taught creative writing. She has taught at Princeton University and Vermont College. She currently teaches in the MFA program at Lesley University.
Teaching and Documentaries
In 2010, Verdelle was featured in a documentary film. The film was called Cheating the Stillness. It told the story of Julia Peterkin. Peterkin was the first American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1929. She wrote novels about Black life in the Southern United States.
Verdelle had studied Peterkin's books. She even included Peterkin's novel Scarlet Sister Mary in her own book, The Good Negress.
Awards and Recognition
A. J. Verdelle has received several important awards for her writing:
- Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
- Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award
- Vursell Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- The Whiting Award in 1996
