Tayari Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tayari Jones
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Jones in 2010
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| Born | November 30, 1970 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
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| Education | Spelman College (BA) University of Iowa (MA) Arizona State University (MFA) |
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| Employer | Emory University |
Tayari Jones, born on November 30, 1970, is an American writer and professor. She is famous for her book An American Marriage. This book was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club in 2018. It also won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2019.
Tayari studied at Spelman College, the University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She teaches English at Emory University in her hometown of Atlanta. Before this, she taught at Cornell University.
Contents
Tayari Jones's Early Life and Education
Tayari Jones grew up in Cascade Heights, Atlanta. Her parents, Mack and Barbara Jones, were part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Both of her parents earned PhDs and became professors. Her father taught political science, and her mother taught economics.
Tayari remembers learning about the civil rights movement as a child. She became aware of her race by reading books and playing with dolls that featured black children. Her name, Tayari, means 'she is prepared' in Swahili. She has two brothers and two half-sisters. Her sisters grew up separately, and they inspired her novel Silver Sparrow.
Growing Up in Atlanta
When Tayari was in elementary school, the Atlanta Child Murders happened. She called this "the most significant event of my childhood." Two of her classmates were sadly killed. Her experiences during this time inspired her first novel, Leaving Atlanta (2002).
Tayari's College Journey
After graduating from Benjamin Mays High School, Tayari attended Spelman College. This is a historically black college for women in Atlanta. At Spelman, she learned from writer Pearl Cleage. Johnnetta Cole, the first black female president of Spelman, was also a role model for Tayari.
Tayari graduated from Spelman in 1991. She then earned a master's degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1994. In 2000, she received a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from Arizona State University. She has also received many special awards and grants. These include honors from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
Tayari Jones's Writing Career
Tayari Jones has written several important novels. Her books often explore family relationships and the experiences of African Americans in the Southern United States.
First Novels and Awards
Her first novel, Leaving Atlanta (2002), tells a coming-of-age story from the viewpoints of three children. It is set during the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979–81. Tayari wrote this book while she was a graduate student. It won the 2003 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. A company called 30Nineteen Productions has bought the rights to make Leaving Atlanta into a film.
The Untelling is Tayari's second novel. It is also set in Atlanta. This book looks at how the main character deals with losing family members as a child. It also shows how she rebuilds her life in her mid-twenties. The Untelling won the Lillian Smith Book Award in 2005.
Silver Sparrow, her third novel, was published in 2011. It was a popular choice among independent bookstores.
An American Marriage and Other Works
An American Marriage, her most recent novel, was published on February 6, 2018. On the same day, Oprah Winfrey announced it as a pick for Oprah's Book Club. The story is about an African-American couple whose lives change when the husband, Roy, is wrongly arrested. Oprah Winfrey is also producing a film based on the book. Former President Barack Obama included An American Marriage on his summer 2018 reading list.
Tayari Jones also edited Atlanta Noir, a collection of short mystery stories. It was published in 2017. Her short story "Caramel" is one of 14 stories in the book, all set in different Atlanta neighborhoods.
Themes in Tayari Jones's Writing
A main theme in Tayari Jones's books is family. This can be seen in Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, and An American Marriage. Her novels show the connections, sometimes difficult ones, between parents and children, and between married couples.
Tayari's novels also explore the experiences of African Americans in the Southern United States. They show how people's lives are affected by unfair systems. For example, Leaving Atlanta shows how the black community felt let down by the government during the Atlanta Child Murders. An American Marriage was written after Tayari researched the problems of mass imprisonment in the United States. She looked at how this affects black men and women.
Tayari has said that writer Toni Morrison has influenced her work. She especially mentions Morrison's book Song of Solomon. Tayari admires how Morrison wrote about the black middle class and created strong female characters.
Awards and Recognitions
Tayari Jones has received many honors for her writing. She won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for her first novel. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts. Other awards include the United States Artist Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.
Her novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. She is also a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 2018, she was added to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
In February 2018, Oprah Winfrey announced that An American Marriage was her latest book club pick. Oprah said she "could not put down" the book. On June 5, 2019, An American Marriage won the Women's Prize for Fiction.
