15 Facts About Tayari Jones

Tayari Jones is currently a member of the English faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at Emory University and recently returned to her hometown of Atlanta after a decade in New York City.

Tayari Jones was Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-large at Cornell University before becoming Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

Tayari Jones was born and raised in Cascade Heights, Atlanta, by her parents Mack and Barbara Tayari Jones, who both participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Tayari Jones's father taught political science at Atlanta University, while her mother taught economics at Clark College.

Tayari Jones recalls growing up following the civil rights movement and becoming acutely aware of her race after being given books featuring black children and playing with black dolls.

Tayari Jones's experience growing up during this time would serve as inspiration for her first novel, Leaving Atlanta.

Tayari Jones graduated from Spelman in 1991 and went on to complete a master's degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1994 and a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from Arizona State University in 2000.

Tayari Jones has received many fellowships, including from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and United States Artists.

Tayari Jones edited Atlanta Noir, an anthology of noir fiction published by Akashic Books in 2017.

Tayari Jones's novels portray the relationships, often fractured relationships, between parents and their children and married couples.

Tina McElroy Ansa has written about the success that Tayari Jones has found in accurately portraying the character of families.

Tayari Jones's novels portray African-American experiences in the Southern United States, specifically how their lives are impacted by the unjust systems they live in.

An American Marriage was written as a result of Tayari Jones researching the problems surrounding mass incarceration in the United States, and its impact on black men and women.

Tayari Jones has spoken about Toni Morrison's influence on her work, specifically Song of Solomon for its portrayal of the black middle-class and characterization of female characters.

Tayari Jones is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2018.