Sunny Nash

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Los Angeles, CA
California US

Author's Bio

Sunny Nash's book, 'Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's,' is about life with part-Comanche grandmother during the Civil Rights Movement. Nash's book, collected from her former syndicated newspaper column, is selected by the American Association of University Presses as a Book for Understanding U.S. Race Relations, and recommended by the Miami-Dade (Florida) Public Library System for Native American Collections. Robin Fruble of Southern California said, "Every white person in America should read this book! Sunny Nash writes the story of her childhood without preaching or ranting but she made me realize for the first time just how much skin color changes how one experiences the world. But if your skin color is brown, it matters a great deal to a great number of people. I needed to learn that. Sunny Nash is a great teacher," Fruble said.

Sunny Nash is a journalist with interests in education and oral history. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & Broadcast News, Texas A&M University; Graduate Awards in Educational Technology and Teaching Online, University of California, San Diego; Adjunct Professor Certificate, Poynter Institute and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications, Arizona State University; Honors Diploma, Media Law, London School of Journalism; Copyright Law, Harvard; International Intellectual Property Law, World Intellectual Property Organization Academy; Digital Archival Preservation, University of London; Diplomacy, Culture and Communication, United Nations; Oral History Certification, Science History Institute; and Constitution Studies, James Madison University.

Nash is a member of the U.S. Press Corps; Society of Professional Journalists, ACES--The Society for Editors; Southwest Oral History Association, United Nations World Heritage Centre; and the National Genealogical Society.

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Anthologies:
Remembering Woolworth's: A Nostalgic History of the World's Most Famous Five (Texas A&M University Press, 2013)
,
Texas Through Women's Eyes: The Twentieth-Century Experience (University of Texas Press, 2011)
,
African American National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2008)
,
African American Women Confront the West: 1600-2000 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008)
,
Black women in Texas history (Texas A&M University Press, 2008)
,
African American Foodways: Explorations of History and Culture (University of Illinois Press, 2007)
,
Lynching to Belong (Texas A&M University Press, 2007)
,
Glencoe Literature (McGraw-Hill, 2002)
,
The companion to Southern literature: themes, genres, places, people ... (Louisiana State University Press, 2002)
,
Blacks in the American West and Beyond--America, Canada, and Mexico: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press, 2000)
,
Celebrating the family: ethnicity, consumer culture, and family rituals (Harvard University Press, 2000)
,
Reflections in Black: a photographic study of black photography 1840-present (W. W. Norton & Company, 2000)
,
A bookmark (Texas A&M University Press, 1999)
,
Following Old Fencelines: Tales from Rural Texas (Texas A&M University Press, 1998)
,
State of mind: Texas literature and culture (Texas A&M University Press, 1998)
,
Texas women writers: a tradition of their own (Texas A&M University Press, 1997)
,
Language Arts & Disciplines (Harcourt Brace, 1996)
,
Black Texas women: 150 years of trial and triumph (University of Texas Press, 1995)
Books:
Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's (Texas A&M University Press, 1996)
,
African-American Lifeways in East-Central Texas: The Ned Peterson Farmstead Brazos County, Texas (Texas A&M University Press, 1993)
Journal:
Southern Exposure

Fiction

Anthologies:
State Lines (Texas A&M University Press, 2000)
,
The African American West (University of Colorado Press, 2000)
,
Stirring Prose (Texas A&M University Press, 1998)
,
Let's Hear It: Stories by Texas Women Writers (Texas A&M University Press, 1997)
,
New Growth 2 (Corona Press, 1997)
,
Common Bonds (Southern Methodist University Press, 1990)
Prizes won: 

2014 NEH Grant-Created Equal; 2014 Ottis Locke Grant & Award; California Arts Council Literary Fellowships 2003, 2010 & 2015; Charter Communications Television Producer of the Year Award 2004; Association of American University Presses Designation 2001; People’s Choice Songwriting Nomination 1991, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Nomination 1990; Houston Public Library Literary First Prize 1986; J. Frank Dobie Second Prize 1985

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Mixed-Race
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Raised in: 
TX
Texas
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Oct 27, 2023