Elizabeth Nunez

Biography

Early life

Nunez was born in Cocorite, Trinidad, on 18 February 1944. She began writing as early as nine years of age and won the first-place prize for the "Tiny Tots" writing contest in the Trinidad Guardian. She emigrated from Trinidad to the United States after completing high school at the age of 19 in 1963.

Career overview

Having arrived in the United States aged 19, Nunez earned a BA in English from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and an MA and PhD in Literature from New York University.

The author of eight novels, she was also co-editor with Jennifer Sparrow of Stories from Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad, co-editor with Brenda M. Greene of the collection of essays Defining Ourselves: Black Writers in the 90s, and author of several monographs of literary criticism. Her memoir "Discovering my Mother" was published in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby.

In addition to developing her writing and teaching career, Nunez developed programming to support other writers of color. She was the co-founder of the National Black Writers Conference, which received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Reed Foundation under her direction as its co-director from 1986 to 2000. Nunez also hosted a radio program on WBAI 99.5FM and is chair of the PEN Open Book Award Committee.

Nunez was also the Executive Producer of the 2004 New York Emmy-nominated CUNY TV series Black Writers in America.

Her 2010 novel, Anna In Between, earned her critical acclaim. Publishers Weekly praised it for "[the] expressive prose and convincing characters that immediately hook the reader" and for handling family conflicts and immigration identity vividly. Her final novels were Not for Everyday Use (2014) and Now Lila Knows (2022).

Death

Nunez died on 8 November 2024 from complications of a stroke at her home in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 80.

Selected novels

• When Rocks Dance (1986)
• Beyond the Limbo Silence (1998)
• Bruised Hibiscus (2000)
• Grace (2003)
• Prospero's Daughter (2006)
• Anna In Between (2010)
• Not for Everyday Use (2014)
• Now Lila Knows (2022)

References

References

1. "Hunter College Faculty Profile".
2. [[American Book Awards#2000 to 2009]]
3. "CUNY News".
4. "Elizabeth Nunez's Website".
5. Delgado, Anjanette. "New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent". New York Journal of Books.
6. (22 September 2005). "The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction". Columbia University Press.
7. (30 April 2006). "Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color". Bloomsbury Publishing.
8. "Voices from the Gap".
9. "Elizabeth Nunez". Akashic Books.
10. Nunez, Elizabeth, and Brenda M. Greene, ''Defining Ourselves: Black Writers in the 90s'', P. Lang, 1999, {{ISBN. 978-0-8204-4261-7
11. Lee, Felicia R.. (3 April 2000). "Black Writers Warn of Losing The Momentum". The New York Times.
12. Amy Finnerty. (1 September 2009). "Caribbean Variations". [[The New York Times]].
13. (13 July 2009). "Review: Anna In-Between". [[Publishers Weekly]].
14. Green, Penelope. (15 November 2024). "Elizabeth Nunez, Who Chronicled the Immigrant's Challenges, Dies at 80". [[The New York Times]].
15. Nunez-Harrell, Elizabeth. (1988). "When rocks dance". Ballantine.
16. Nunez, Elizabeth. (2010). "Anna in-between". Akashic Books.