Kalisha Buckhanon

Fiction Writer

Author's Bio

Kalisha is the author of the novels UPSTATE, CONCEPTION, SOLEMN and SPEAKING OF SUMMER: a book pick of Essence, O Magazine, TIME, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmo, Buzzfeed, Lit Hub and more. Her stories and essays are published in Fiction, CrimeReads, Fiction International, Oxford American, Black Renaissance Noire, Michigan Quarterly Review, pluck! and more. She is also seen on ID, BET and TV-One true crime shows as an expert. Her work is honored by the American Library Association, National Book Foundation, Audie Awards, Hurston-Wright Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, Friends of American Writers and more. She has English degrees from University of Chicago and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City, has taught preschoolers to seniors throughout Chicago and New York City, and lives and writes between Chicago and New York City.

Education: 
The New School MFA

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Speaking of Summer, A Novel (Counterpoint Press, 2019)
,
Solemn (St. Martin's Press, 2016)
,
Conception (St. Martin's Press, 2008)
,
Upstate (St. Martin's Press, 2005)
Prizes won: 

National Book Foundation "Literature for Justice" Program inaugural title, Friends of American Writers Award in American Literature, New York Public Library's Best Book for Teens for Upstate, American Library Association ALEX Award, Audie Award in Literary Fiction shared with narrators Chadwick Boseman and Heather Simms for Upstate, AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award, Terry McMillan Young Author Award, Zora Neale Hurston/Bessie Head Fiction Award at the Gwendolyn Brooks Black Writers Conference, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Prose, Kankakee County (IL) Historical Society's African-American Exhibit Inductee, Phi Beta Kappa Inductee, Andrew Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship in the Humanities

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Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
You Never Know by Connie Briscoe

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
African American
Fluent in: 
English, French
Born in: 
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
Raised in: 
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
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Last update: Apr 26, 2024