Yaa Gyasi – American novelist of Ghanaian origin; Homegoing, Transcendent Kingdom; winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award. Studied English at Stanford and honed her craft at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novels explore slavery’s legacy, migration, race, and faith in the modern world.
🌍 Born in Mampong, Ghana, raised in Huntsville, Alabama. 📖 Debut Homegoing brought her global acclaim at 26. 🏆 Won PEN/Hemingway and other prizes. 📝 Traveled to Ghana, visiting Cape Coast Castle to research slavery. 🎓 Alumna of Stanford and Iowa Writers’ Workshop. 📚 Transcendent Kingdom (2020) was a bestseller and NYT notable book. ⚖️ Her writing often addresses racial identity in America. 💡 Inspired early by Toni Morrison. 🎤 Regular speaker at literary festivals on history and diaspora. 📺 Her novels are under consideration for screen adaptations. 🙂 Fun fact: she jokes about how often people mispronounce her name.