Darryl Pinckney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Darryl Pinckney
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| Born | 1953 (age 71–72) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) |
| Genre | Novelist, playwright |
| Notable works | High Cotton (1992) |
| Notable awards | Whiting Award (1986); Vursell Award for Distinguished Prose from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1994) |
| Partner | James Fenton |
Darryl Pinckney (born in 1953 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American novelist, playwright, and essayist. He writes about many important topics, including American culture and history.
Early Life and Education
Darryl Pinckney grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He came from an African-American family. He went to public schools in his hometown. Later, he moved to New York City to study at Columbia University.
Writing Career
Darryl Pinckney started his career by writing for the theatre. He worked with director Robert Wilson on several plays. Some of these plays include The Forest (1988) and Orlando (1989). He also wrote Time Rocker in 1995.
His first novel was called High Cotton (1992). This book tells a story about growing up as a young Black person in the 1960s in America. His second novel, Black Deutschland (2016), is about a young Black man living in Berlin in the late 1980s. This was just before the Berlin Wall came down.
Pinckney has also written many essays. These essays cover topics like African-American literature, politics, and race. He often writes for well-known magazines. These include New York Review of Books, Granta, Slate, and The Nation. He often explores how people see themselves and their place in society through his writing.
Awards and Recognition
Darryl Pinckney has received several awards for his writing:
- In 1986, he won the Whiting Award.
- His novel High Cotton won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction in 1992.
- In 1994, he received the Vursell Award for Distinguished Prose. This award came from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
- His memoir, Come Back in September, was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle award.
- In 2022, Come Back in September also won the James Tait Black Prize for Biography.
Personal Life
Darryl Pinckney lives with his partner, English poet James Fenton. They have been together since 1989. Pinckney currently lives in New York City. He used to live with Fenton in Oxfordshire, England.
