“It’s among Tayari’s many gifts that she can touch us soul to soul with her words.”
— OPRAH WINFREY

“Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear. That has been true from her very first book, but with An American Marriage that vision, that strength and that truth-telling voice have found a new level of artistry and power.”
—MICHAEL CHABON, author of Moonglow: A Novel

“I love An American Marriage and I’m so excited for this book to be in the world. Tayari’s novel is timely, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Reading it, I found myself angry as hell, laughing out loud, choking up and cheering. A gem of a book.”
—JACQUELINE WOODSON, author of Brown Girl Dreaming

“Tayari Jones is a great storyteller. An American Marriage holds the reader from first page to last, with her compassionate observation, her clear-eyed insight and her beautifully written and complex characters. Jones understands love and loss and writes with passion and precision about the forces that move us all from one to another.”
—AMY BLOOM, bestselling author of Lucky Us

“An American Marriage asks hard questions about injustice and betrayal, and answers them with a heartbreaking and genuinely suspenseful love story in which nobody’s wrong and everybody’s wounded. Tayari Jones has written a complex and important novel about people trapped in a tragic situation, struggling to reconcile their responsibilities and desires.”
—TOM PERROTTA, author of The Leftovers

“Tayari Jones’ American Marriage is a stunning epic love story filled with breathtaking twists and turns, while bursting with realized and unrealized dreams. Skillfully crafted and beautifully written, American Marriage is an exquisite, timely, and powerful novel that feels both urgent and indispensable.”
—EDWIDGE DANTICAT, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory

  • An American Marriage longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction

    An American Marriage longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction

    Longlists for four 2019 Orwell Prizes were announced today, including the inaugural Orwell Prize for Political Fiction sponsored by Richard Blair and A. M. Heath, and Orwell Prize for Political Writing lists, marking the 70th anniversary of George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

    Chair of judges for the Political Fiction Prize, Tom Sutcliffe said:

    “I’m delighted with our long-list for the first Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. It’s a list which acknowledges that the politics in a book can often be found between the lines, rather than on them, and that making your voice heard can sometimes be the most political act of all.“

    To see the longlist in its entirety, click here.

  • Tayari Jones Joins the Faculty of Emory University

    Tayari Jones will join Emory University’s renowned Creative Writing Program this fall as a member of the English faculty in Emory College of Arts and Sciences.  She will be on sabbatical for the fall semester, but will begin teaching in January 2019.

  • Tayari Jones Appears on Late Night With Seth Meyers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6twWBvZVnQ

  • An American Marriage Chosen For Oprah’s Book Club

    Oprah Winfrey chooses An American Marriage for 2018 Oprah’s Book Club.

     

  • Jones Elected to Georgia Authors Hall of Fame

    Five authors comprise the 2018 class of Georgia Writers Hall of Fame inductees:  Michael Bishop, Tayari Jones and Cynthia Shearer will be admitted at the November ceremony; Furman Bisher and Frances Newman will be honored posthumously.
    The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame was established in 2000 as part of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library to honor Georgia writers and to introduce the public to the library’s rich collections for research into Georgia literature and cultural history.

  • Tayari Jones Elected To The Boards of Directors of Two Arts Organizations

    Tayari Jones has assumed exciting new roles in two arts organizations.

    Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) seeks to educate the imagination by offering innovative creative writing programs for students and teachers, and by providing a variety of publications and resources to support learning through the literary arts. T&W programs include writing workshops for students, professional development for educators, managing the New York Poetry Out Loud competition, and publishing Teachers & Writers Magazine and other resources about the teaching of creative writing.

    The Center for Southern Literary Arts cultivates the rich and diverse stories of the Memphis region and encourages and supports innovations in the literary arts. Through community programs, education initiatives, artist residencies, and creative economic development, the CSLA expands beyond the traditional boundaries of the literary arts to capture and reclaim stories as a pathway to repair, equity, and justice in the city, the South, and the nation.

  • Tayari Jones Named Black Mountain Institute Shearing Fellow

    bmiLogoThe Diana L. Bennett Fellows Program at UNLV’s Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI) awards Tayari Jones a fellowship for the academic year 2017-18.  She will be in residence in Las Vegas to accept this opportunity and begin work on her fifth novel.  Each year, BMI offers the Bennett Fellowship to three critically acclaimed writers who, for one or two semesters, contribute to the cultural landscape of UNLV and the larger Las Vegas community.  Jones is the 2017-18 Shearing Fellow.  More.

  • AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE: EW Cover Reveal

    The cover of Tayari Jones’s new novel, An American Marriage, is revealed today on Entertainment Weekly.  Read an excerpt.

  • ATLANTA NOIR is Available for Pre-Order

    ATLNOIR

    Order from:
    B & N,
    Amazon.com
    A Capella Books (Atlanta)

    “People who don’t know Atlanta don’t understand the codes and contradictions of the New South. Yes, Margaret Mitchell imagined the plantation Tara within the city limits, but it’s also the home of OutKast. Atlanta has captured the imagination of trash TV with Todd Chrisley’s magnolia-cream accent but also the decidedly urban antics of Love & Hip Hop. The ashes of the Civil War still hang in the air, but immigration is turning the South into the Global South.

    With Atlanta Noir, my hope was to find the writers who could show the city in all of its dizzy complexity. These fourteen writers represent the city’s many neighborhoods and demographics—from the Southern punk scene of Little Five Points to the Junior League world of Peachtree City, where things are not always as they seem. There is more going on at the local Waffle House than just scattering, smothering, and chunking. This is a major international city but it’s still the Bible Belt. A megapreacher’s past catches up with him, and gentrification cannot tame the outlaw spirit of the city too busy to hate. Our airport boasts that it is the busiest in the world; locals declare that even on the way to heaven, you have to change planes at Hartsfield-Jackson. Let us think of Atlanta Noir as an after-hours welcome to the city where we serve our sweet tea with a shot of bourbon.”

  • NEA Big Read Grants Announced

    Jones_T_SilverSparrow_pbk_BigRead_01The following organizations received grants from the NEA Big Read  to plan programming around Silver Sparrow.  Dates and times will be posted on this “Appearances” page.

    Black Storytellers of San Diego, Chula Vista, California

    Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, New York

    Chatanooga State Community College, Chattanooga, Tennessee

    Essex County Library Directors, Newark, New Jersey

    Jefferson Madison Regional Library, Charlotesville, Virginia

    Peoria Public Library, Peoria, Illinoiis

    Troy University Rosa Parks Library, Montgomery, Alabama

  • Jones Reviews Irving in NYT

    “A writer of great imagination, Irving can sell the reader on nearly any plot twist no matter how incredible — from a murderous statue of the Virgin Mary to a pride of anthropomorphized lionesses to a pair of (possibly) paranormal, (definitely) kinky bibliophiles. Under his spell, all of this seems perfectly and irresistibly plausible.” — Tayari Jones on Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving.

  • Silver Sparrow Added to the NEA Big Read Library

    Jones_T_SilverSparrow_pbk_BigRead_01The National Endowment for the Arts announced that two contemporary novels written by female writers will join the Big Read library—Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones and In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner. These novels will be available for organizations hosting a 2016-2017 Big Read project and will further the National Endowment for the Arts’ commitment to expanding the Big Read library by including diverse voices and stories. Application guidelines for 2016-2017 Big Read grants are now available. The deadline is Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 4:00pm CST. – See more at: https://www.arts.gov/news/2015/national-endowment-arts-announces-new-additions-big-read-library

  • Fellowship of Southern Writers Selects Tayari Jones for Membership

    Tayari Jones has been selected for membership into the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

    Founded in 1987 by a group of writers who met in Chattanooga, the Fellowship of Southern Writers is a nonprofit organization which has for its objective the encouragement of literature in the South.  The FSW achieves its mission by commemorating outstanding literary achievement, encouraging young writers through awards, prizes and fellowships, recognizing distinction in writing by election to membership, and through other appropriate activities.

    Affiliations:

    Affiliated with the Chattanooga Arts & Education Council (AEC) and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the FSW holds its biennial convocation in partnership with the AEC Conference on Southern Literature.  The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lupton Library houses its archives.

    Membership:
    The FSW–formed by twenty-two founding members in 1987–believes that the American South is an identifiable and distinctive cultural and social community, and that the vitality and power of its literature justify recognition and encouragement.  The Fellowship is composed of 50 active members.  New members are nominated by current members and elected by majority vote, and are drawn from among writers of fiction, poetry, drama, criticism, and history.  To be considered for membership a writer must have been born and raised, or have resided for a significant part of his or her life in the South, or have written works that in character and spirit embody aspects of the Southern experience.

  • Silver Sparrow Annouced as Featured Title for 2015 “All Henrico Reads”

    Henrico Country Public Library has chosen Silver Sparrow for the 2015 “All Henrico Reads,” a community reading program that aims to encourage a sense of community and promote literacy.  Group discussions of Silver Sparrow will be held at public libraries county-wide, culminating with a discussion with Jones on April 1, 2015.

    Wednesday, April 1, 7-8:30 pm
    (Doors open at 6:15 pm)
    Glen Allen High School
    10700 Staples Mill Road, Glen Allen

  • O Magazine Lists Silver Sparrow as an All-Time Favorite in Annual Books of Summer Issue

     

     

     

    Why isn’t Jones a household name, and why isn’t this unputdownable book on every must-read list? “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” reveals protagonist Dana in the opening sentence of a novel that is by turns deft, delicate and devastating.

    — Leigh Haber