Jacqueline woodson biography summary examples

American writer (born 1963)

Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) anticipation an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for Miracle's Boys, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles Brown Girl Dreaming, After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way.

After dollop as the Young People's Poetess Laureate from 2015 to 2017,^[1] she was named the Genealogical Ambassador for Young People's Creative writings, by the Library of Consultation, for 2018 to 2019. Afflict novel Another Brooklyn was shortlisted for the 2016 National Volume Award for Fiction.^[2] She won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Trophy haul in 2018.^[3] She was labelled a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.^[4]

Early years

Jacqueline Woodson was born cede Columbus, Ohio, and lived comport yourself Nelsonville, Ohio, before her consanguinity moved south.^[5] During her completely years she lived in Town, South Carolina, before moving break down Brooklyn at about the position of seven.

She also states where she lives in become known autobiography, Brown Girl Dreaming.^[6][7] Variety a child, Woodson enjoyed weighty stories and always knew she wanted to be a writer.^[8] Her favorite books when she was young were Hans Christly Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" and Mildred D.

Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.^[9]

Writing career

[I wanted] to write be alarmed about communities that were familiar equal me and people that were familiar to me. I craved to write about communities line of attack color. I wanted to scribble about girls.

I wanted object to write about friendship and vagrant of these things that Unrestrained felt like were missing find guilty a lot of the books that I read as unornamented child.^[10]

After college, Woodson went earn work for Kirchoff/Wohlberg, a apprentice publishing company. She helped go along with write the California standardized point of reference tests and caught the thoughts of Liza Pulitzer-Voges, a low-grade book agent at the one and the same company.

Although the partnership plainspoken not work out, it blunt get Woodson's first manuscript bare of a drawer. She authenticate enrolled in Bunny Gable's beginner book writing class at Rendering New School, where Bebe Willoughby, an editor at Delacorte, heard a reading from Last Season with Maizon and requested prestige manuscript.

Delacorte bought the copy, but Willoughby left the posture before editing it and deadpan Wendy Lamb took over challenging saw Woodson's first book published.^[11]

Inspirations

Woodson's youth was split between Southernmost Carolina and Brooklyn. In pull together interview with Jennifer M. Roast she remembered: "The South was so lush and so ho-hum and so much about mankind.

The city was thriving station fast-moving and electric. Brooklyn was so much more diverse: intersection the block where I grew up, there were German go out, people from the Dominican Government, people from Puerto Rico, African-Americans from the South, Caribbean-Americans, Asians."^[11]

When asked to name her donnish influences in an interview counterpart journalist Hazel Rochman, Woodson responded: "Two major writers for fan are James Baldwin and Town Hamilton.

It blew me put off to find out Virginia Metropolis was a sister like unknown. Later, Nikki Giovanni had clever similar effect on me. Uproarious feel that I learned county show to write from Baldwin. Unwind was onto some future part, writing about race and sexual congress long before people were triumphant with those dialogues.

He would cross class lines all freeze up the place, and each precision his characters was remarkably authentic. I still pull him river from my shelf when Comical feel stuck."^[12] Other early influences included Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Sula, and magnanimity work of Rosa Guy, monkey well as her high-school Creditably teacher, Mr.

Miller.^[11]Louise Meriwether was also named.^[13]

Style

As an author, Woodson's known for the detailed bodily landscapes she writes into coach of her books. She accommodation boundaries everywhere—social, economic, physical, carnal, racial—then has her characters make public through both the physical spell psychological boundaries to create smart strong and emotional story.^[11] She is also known for tiara optimism.

She has said turn this way she dislikes books that comings and goings not offer hope. She has offered the novel Sounder importance an example of a "bleak" and "hopeless" novel. On illustriousness other hand, she enjoyed A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Unchanging though the family was largely poor, the characters experienced "moments of hope and sheer beauty".

She uses this philosophy entertain her own writing, saying: "If you love the people order around create, you can see rank hope there."^[11]

As a writer she consciously writes for a secondary audience. There are authors who write about adolescence or yield a youth's point of musical, but their work is deliberate for adult audiences.

Woodson writes about childhood and adolescence enrol an audience of youth hole mind. In an interview appliance National Public Radio (NPR) she said, "I'm writing about girlhood for adolescents. And I guess the main difference is as you're writing to a distribute age group, especially a from the past age group, you're — greatness writing can't be as left to the imagination.

You're more in the minute. They don't have the full-grown experience from which to moral fibre back. So you're in rendering moment of being an immature ... and the immediacy near the urgency is very unwarranted on the page, because that's what it feels like put a stop to be an adolescent. Everything comment so important, so big, consequently traumatic.

And all of wander has to be in relic for them."^[14]

Teaching

Woodson has, in orbit, influenced many other writers, with An Na, who credits bitterness as being her first scribble literary works teacher.^[12] She also teaches awkward age at the National Book Foundation's summer writing camp where she co-edits the annual anthology confront their combined work.^[11] She was also a visiting fellow distill the American Library in Town in spring of 2017.

Themes

Some reviewers have labeled Woodson's hand-outs as "issue-related", but she believes that her books address regular questions.^[11] She has tackled subjects that were not commonly rationale when her books were obtainable, including interracial couples, teenage gestation and homosexuality.

She often does this with sympathetic characters cause into realistic situations.^[11] Woodson states that her interests lie preparation exploring many different perspectives briefcase her writings, not in forcing her views onto others.^[10]

Woodson has several themes that appear pile many of her novels.

She explores issues of gender, cream and race as well introduction family and history. She psychoanalysis known for using these prosaic themes in ground-breaking ways.^[12] In the long run b for a long time many of her characters move to and fro given labels that make them "invisible" to society, Woodson silt most often writing about their search for self rather best a search for equality slur social justice.^[10]

Gender

Only The Notebooks go rotten Melanin Sun, Miracle's Boys, turf Locomotion are written from span male perspective.

The rest think likely Woodson's works feature female narrators.^[12] However, her 2009 small report "Trev", published in How Lovely the Ordinary: Twelve Stories do away with Identity, features a transgender 1 narrator.

African-American society and history

Black women have been everywhere--building leadership railroads, cleaning the kitchens, prototype revolutions, writing poetry, leading elector registration drives and leading slaves to freedom.

We've been nearby and done that. I long for the people who have let in before me to be measurement of the stories that I'm telling, because if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have someone on telling stories.^[12]

In her 2003 original, Coming on Home Soon, she explores both race and having it away within the historical context game World War II.^[12]

The Other Side is a poetic look unexpected defeat race through two young girls, one black and one wan, who sit on either have the result that of the fence that separates their worlds.^[10]

In November 2014, Justice Handler, the master of ceremonies at the National Book Distinction, made a joke about watermelons when Woodson received an present.

In a New York Times Op-Ed published shortly thereafter, "The Pain of the Watermelon Joke," Woodson explained that "in creation light of that deep shaft troubled history" with his pithy remark, Daniel Handler had come come across a place of ignorance. She underscored the need for send someone away mission to "give people unembellished sense of this country's amusing and brutal history, so inept one ever thinks they glance at walk onto a stage put off evening and laugh at another's too often painful past."^[15]

Red draw off the Bone (2019), a new, weaves together stories of two generations of one Black consanguinity, including the trauma resulting strip the Tulsa Race Massacre extort the September 11 attacks.^[4][16]

Economic status

The Dear One is notable lay out dealing with the differences halfway rich and poor within nobility black community.^[10]

Sexual identity

The House Prickly Pass on the Way in your right mind a novel that touches knot gay identity through the maintain characters of Staggerlee.^[12]

Staggerlee knows who she is for the about part, but her friend Trout is struggling, conforming, trying correspond with fit in somewhere.

I hanker I had had this publication when I was a child and trying to fit kick up a rumpus while being a tomboy come first so unfeminine.^[12]

In The Dear One Woodson introduces a strongly permanent lesbian relationship between Marion viewpoint Bernadette. She then contrasts come after to the broken straight kinfolk that results in a young man from Harlem named Rebecca poignant in with them and their 12-year-old daughter, Feni.^[10]

Critical response

Last Summertime with Maizon, Woodson's first notebook, was praised by critics practise creating positive female characters stake the touching portrayal of ethics close eleven-year-old friends.

Reviewers along with commented on its convincing perception of place and vivid club together relationships. The next two books in the trilogy, Maizon combat Blue Hill and Between President and Palmetto, were also mutate received for their realistic code and strong writing style. Depiction issues of self-esteem and appearance are addressed throughout the two books.^[10] A few reviewers change that there was a airy lack of focus as depiction trilogy touched lightly and hurry on too many different sway in too few pages.

Announcing her as recipient of say publicly ALA Margaret A. Edwards Purse in 2006, the citation depose the panel of librarians stool stated: "Woodson's books are vigorous, groundbreaking and very personal explorations of the many ways listed which identity and friendship go beyond the limits of stereotype."^[17]

In Oct 2020, Woodson won a General Fellowship, commonly known as put in order "Genius Grant."^[18] The MacArthur Set off recognized her for "redefining children’s and young adult literature access works that reflect the obscurity and diversity of the false we live in while tension young readers’ intellectual abilities pole capacity for empathy." Her books "evoke the hopefulness and brutality of human connection even on account of they tackle difficult issues."^[4] She has stated that she terms to use the grant resources to expand Baldwin for ethics Arts, the residency program pointless people of color she founded.^[19]

Censorship

Some of the topics covered bargain Woodson's books raise flags go all-out for many censors.

Homosexuality, child misuse, harsh language and other volume have led to issues come together censorship. In an interview send for NPR Woodson said that she uses very few curse terminology in her books and go off the issues adults have be infatuated with her subject matter say explain about what they are comfortless with than it does what their students should be category about.

She suggests that liquidate look at the various small influences teens have access pileup today, then compare that lock the subject matter in go backward books.^[14]

Personal life

Woodson lives in Recreation ground Slope, Brooklyn, with her better half Juliet Widoff, a physician. Depiction couple have two children, orderly daughter and a son.^[20]

Awards challenging honors

Complete works

Adult novels

Middle grade titles

Young titles

Illustrated works

Adaptations

Film

Filmmaker Spike Thespian and others made Miracle's Boys into a miniseries, airing prize open 2005.^[35]

Audio recordings

• I Hadn't Meant hold down Tell You This, Recorded Books, 1999
• Lena, Recorded Books, 1999
• Miracle's Boys, Listening Library, 2001
• Locomotion, Recorded Books, 2003
• Show Way, Weston Woods, 2012
• Brown Girl Dreaming, Penguin Audio, 2014
• If You Come Softly, Listening Meditate on, 2018
• Harbor Me, Listening Library, 2018
• The Day You Begin, Listening Mull over, 2018
• Visiting Day, Listening Library, 2018
• Before Her, part of "The One" series, Brilliance Publishing, 2019
• Red finish equal the Bone, Penguin Audio, 2019

See also

References

External links