Raven Leilani

Raven Leilani
Born (1990-08-26) August 26, 1990
Pen nameRaven Leilani
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMarist College (BA)
New York University (MFA)
Notable awards5 Under 35 Honoree
John Leonard Prize (2020)
Kirkus Prize (2020)

Raven Leilani Baptiste (born August 26, 1990)[1] is an American writer who publishes under the name Raven Leilani. Her debut novel, Luster, was released in 2020 to critical acclaim.[2]

Early life and education

Leilani grew up in a family of artists in the Bronx.[2] She grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, and later left the church.[3] Leilani studied painting in high school and during her freshman year of college, but decided to major in English and Psychology.[2] She received her bachelor's degree from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.[2][3]

Before publishing her novels, she worked for Ancestry.com, a scientific journal in Washington, D.C., and as a delivery person for Postmates.[2] She also worked at Macmillan.[4] In 2017, she began pursuing her MFA at New York University, where she studied under Zadie Smith and Katie Kitamura.[3][2] She now lives in Brooklyn[3] and teaches at New York University.[5] She has previously taught creative writing at Harvard University.[6]

Career

Leilani's debut novel Luster received significant attention at its publishing.[7] The book's publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux named the book its novel of August 2020 as part of their "Dare to Imagine" campaign.[2] It is also part of Marie Claire's book club and has been lauded by outlets including Elle, the HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and The New York Times.[8][9] It has been praised by authors Carmen Maria Machado, Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, and Zadie Smith.[2][3][10] Kirkus Reviews awarded Luster the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction.[11] Luster was also awarded the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize,[3][12] the 2020 John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards,[13] the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize,[14] and the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award[15]

She was named a 2020 "5 Under 35" honoree by the National Book Foundation.[6]

Leilani's writing is influenced by her background as a visual artist, her life experiences, poetry, and a love of comic books and music.[2] She has written for publications including Esquire,[16] The Cut,[17] and Vogue.[18]

She was the 2025-2026 Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.[19]

In 2026, FSG acquired North American rights to Leilani's sophomore novel, Material.[20]

Works

Novels

  • Luster. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2020. ISBN 9780374194321. OCLC 1119744688.

Short stories

References

  1. ^ Sanchez, Brandon (October 2, 2020). "The startling debut of Raven Leilani". America Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i de León, Concepción (July 31, 2020). "Raven Leilani, a Flâneur Who Is Going Places". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Obaro, Tomi (August 4, 2020). "If You Like "Normal People," You'll Love "Luster"". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Varno, David (July 10, 2020). "Writers to Watch Fall 2020". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. ^ "Writers Speak, Raven Leilani in conversation with Jesse McCarthy". Harvard.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  6. ^ a b "5 Under 35 Honoree, 2020". nationalbook.org. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  7. ^ "Book Marks reviews of Luster by Raven Leilani". Book Marks. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  8. ^ Epstein, Rachel (July 29, 2020). "'Luster' Is Marie Claire's August Book Club Pick". Marie Claire. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  9. ^ Fequiere, Roxanne (August 5, 2020). "Raven Leilani Is Your New Favorite Novelist". Elle. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  10. ^ Smith, Zadie (August 4, 2020). "Zadie Smith on Her Former Student Raven Leilani's Debut Novel". Harpers Bazaar. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  11. ^ "2020 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  12. ^ "Raven Leilani Wins the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize". The Center for Fiction. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Beer, Tom (March 25, 2021). "National Book Critics Circle Presents Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  14. ^ "Dylan Thomas Prize: New Yorker Raven Leilani wins accolade". BBC News. May 13, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  15. ^ "VCU Cabell First Novelist Award". firstnovelist.vcu.edu. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Leilani, Raven (July 23, 2020). "When I Left My Faith, I Went to Comic Con". Esquire. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Leilani, Raven (August 3, 2020). "Luster (excerpt)". The Cut. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Leilani, Raven (August 4, 2020). "Turning My Back on the Faith that Saved Me". Vogue. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  19. ^ "Meet the 2025–2026 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers". New York Public Library. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  20. ^ Stewart |, Sophia. "Book Deals: Week of April 13, 2026". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  21. ^ Leilani, Raven (2019). "Hard Water". Cosmonauts Avenue. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  22. ^ Leilani, Raven (January 20, 2020). "Breathing Exercise". The Yale Review. 107 (4): 40–50. doi:10.1111/yrev.13555. S2CID 241706744. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  23. ^ Leilani, Raven (January 28, 2019). "Airplane Mode". SmokeLong Quarterly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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