Zinzi Clemmons

Zinzi Clemmons is an American writer. She is best known for her 2017 debut novel What We Lose.

Zinzi Clemmons
Born1985 (age 34–35)
NationalityAmerican
EducationBrown University
Columbia University
OccupationAuthor
Notable work
What We Lose (2017)
Home townSwarthmore, Pennsylvania
RelativesPhife Dawg
Websitewww.zinziclemmons.com

Early life and education

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]

Career

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. Félix 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]

In 2017 Clemmons 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 Díaz at the Sydney Writers' Festival.[16][17] Díaz 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]

Personal life

Clemmons is married to poet and translator André Naffis-Sahely.[3] They live in Culver City, near Los Angeles.[1]

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References
  1. O'Grady, Megan (July 20, 2017). "Zinzi Clemmons Has Written the Debut Novel of the Year". Vogue. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  2. Derakhshani, Tirdad, "Swarthmore native Zinzi Clemmons on her debut novel about 'sex and death'", Philadelphia Inquirer, July 11, 2017.
  3. French, Agatha (July 20, 2017). "Debut novelist Zinzi Clemmons is frank and experimental in 'What We Lose'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  4. Clemmons, Zinzi, "A Gritty Little Something on the New York Street", The Paris Review, March 25, 2016.
  5. 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.
  6. Weiss-Meyer, Amy (August 1, 2017). "'What We Lose' Is a Striking Debut Novel About Familial Loss". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  7. 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.
  8. St. Félix, Doreen (October 31, 2017). "What We're Reading This Week". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  9. 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.
  10. "US writer Zinzi Clemmons accuses Girls star Lena Dunham of 'hipster racism'". Newsbeat. BBC. November 20, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  11. Crucchiola, Jordan. "Writer Leaves Lenny Letter Citing Lena Dunham's 'Well-Known Racism'". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  12. Kang, Biba (November 18, 2017). "Lena Dunham has failed women of colour by discrediting Aurora Perrineau's rape allegations". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  13. Hughes, William. "Former Lenny Letter writer Zinzi Clemmons denounces Lena Dunham, accuses her of "hipster racism"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  14. Alter, Alexandra; Bromwich, Jonah E.; Cave, Damien (May 4, 2018). "The Writer Zinzi Clemmons Accuses Junot Díaz of Forcibly Kissing Her". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  15. Villareal, Alexandra (May 5, 2018). "Author Junot Diaz Faces Sexual Misconduct Allegations". Associated Press.
  16. Stefansky, Emma (May 5, 2018). "Junot Diaz Withdraws from Writers' Festival After Claims of Sexual Harassment". Vanity Fair.
  17. Jamieson, Amber; Levy, Dara (May 4, 2018). "Junot Díaz Has Withdrawn From A Writers Festival After Being Accused Of Forcibly Kissing Zinzi Clemmons". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  18. Shanahan, Mark; Ebbert, Stephanie (June 30, 2018). "Junot Díaz case may be a #MeToo turning point". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  19. Schaub, Michael (July 2, 2018). "Junot Díaz denies misconduct allegations; his accusers respond". Los Angeles Times.
  20. Flaherty, Colleen (May 29, 2018). "Junot Díaz, Feminism and Ethnicity". Inside Higher Ed.
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