Raven Leilani facts for kids

Raven Leilani Baptiste, born on August 26, 1990, is an American writer. She writes her books using the name Raven Leilani. Her first novel, Luster, came out in 2020 and was very popular.

About Raven Leilani

Her Early Life and School

Raven Leilani grew up in a family who loved art. They lived in the Bronx before moving to a town near Albany, New York. She grew up in a religious family, but later chose a different path. Raven went to an art high school. She thought she would become an artist who paints or draws.

In 2012, she finished college at Marist College in Poughkeepsie. There, she studied English and psychology.

Her Journey to Becoming a Writer

Raven Leilani had many different jobs before becoming a full-time writer. Her first job was working with old documents at Ancestry.com. She had also worked in the archives at Marist College when she was a student.

Later, she worked for a science magazine. She also worked for the United States Department of Defense. She even delivered food for Postmates in Washington, D.C. She also helped organize old records at Macmillan.

In 2017, she went back to school to get her Master of Fine Arts degree at New York University. She learned from famous writers like Zadie Smith. She now lives in Brooklyn.

Raven Leilani's Writing Career

Her First Book: Luster

Raven Leilani's first novel, Luster, got a lot of attention when it was published. The company that published her book, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, chose it as their top novel for August 2020.

Many popular magazines and websites praised Luster. These included Elle, the HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and The New York Times. Other well-known authors like Brit Bennett and Zadie Smith also said good things about the book.

Awards for Luster

Luster won several important awards. In 2020, it received the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. It also won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize in 2020. The book was honored with the John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards. In 2021, it won the Dylan Thomas Prize and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

What Inspires Her Writing

Raven Leilani's background as an artist helps her writing. Her own life experiences also influence her stories. She loves poetry, comic books, and music, and these interests often show up in her work. She has written articles for magazines like Esquire, The Cut, and Vogue.

Her Published Works

Short Stories

• "Hard Water" (2016), published in Cosmonauts Avenue
• "Breathing Exercise" (2019), published in Yale Review
• "Airplane Mode" (2019), published in SmokeLong Quarterly

See also

In Spanish: Raven Leilani para niños