Roxane Gay is a Haitian American Professor, writer, and editor. She has authored several award-winning and best-selling books. Her books include “Ayiti,” “An Untamed State,” “Bad Feminist,” and Difficult Women,” to mention a few. She also co-wrote the award-winning series “World of Wakanda” for Marvel. She is presently working on different television and film projects.
Roxane Gay Biography
The renowned writer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States on the 15th of October 1974. Roxane attended high school at Philips Exeter Academy before proceeding to Yale University to pursue her degree. Unfortunately for her, she dropped out of the university in her junior year to focus on her then relationship in Arizona but things didn’t pan out as she expected. Her college education was completed at Vermont. Roxane went ahead to the University of Nebraska- Lincoln to earn her Master’s degree in Creative Writing.
Roxane further proceeded to study for her Ph.D. at Michigan Technological University with an emphasis on “Rhetoric and Technical Communication” graduating in 2010.
Her teaching career began officially after her Ph.D. and her first appointment as an assistant professor of English was at Eastern Illinois University. Besides her teaching commitments, she started “Tiny Hardcore Press” and also contributed as an editor with “Bluestem Magazine.” She left for Purdue University in 2014 and worked as an associate professor of creative writing in their MFA program until 2018. She currently serves as a visiting professor at Yale University, a position she began in 2018.
She is openly bisexual and is presently in a relationship with Debbie Millman.
Roxane is the proud author of different thought evoking essay collection, short stories, and novel. She has been praised for her simple but unsimplistic approach to writing. While she has been called a feminist by most, Roxanne remains unapologetic in her stance on women issues. She isn’t afraid to explore complex issues in her writings.
Roxane Gay Books That Everyone Should Read
1. “BAD FEMINIST” (2014)
This collection of the essay was published in 2014 and quickly gained public approval. The essays explore political and cultural issues. It also explores her personal experiences and pop culture. In the essay, she explores what it means to be feminist and loving things that are at odds with the feminist ideology. Speaking in an interview with Time Magazine, Roxane explains how her role as a feminist influences her writings. She showcases what it’s like being a woman and opines that the essays aren’t about feminism alone but empathy and humanity.
This collection of essay is an interesting read and has received a series of positive reviews praising her for fearless, intelligent and witty voice on different issues.
2. “AN UNTAMED STATE” (2014)
The book received lots of positive reviews on publication. In the novel, Roxane explores themes of sexual violence, race, privilege, immigrant experience and family. The novel has been referred to as a fairy tale due to the beginning ‘Once upon a time, in a far-off land…’ Some critics have opined that the main character (Mireille) crafted the story this way to make her painful experience bearable.
For the novel ‘Untamed State’, Roxane got nominated for ‘Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Fiction by NAACP Image.
3. “HUNGER: A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY” (2017)
In the memoir, Roxane discusses her personal experiences, especially with her weight and body image. She shares her childhood experience of sexual violence and how she gained weight to protect herself from men. And also her effort to build a positive relationship with food. Roxane says of the book that it explores what it feels like to live in a world ‘Super Morbidly Obese’. She shares what it feels like to receive constant public vocal protests about her body not conforming to cater to the gaze of men.
Hunger is a gripping memoir and Roxane’s experiences can be described as an archetype for most people dealing with their body image and size. The book is definitely a must read.
4. “Difficult Women” (2017)
The book is a collection of short stories highlighting the journey and experiences of different women with lives different from the societal ideal of a normal life. The different stories follow different characters and their traumatic experiences. These women might be viewed as difficult because they push against the societal status quo of a perfect woman. It’s a book to enjoy.
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5. “AYITI” (2011)
The book has been described as a perfect blend of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. The book shows Roxane’s dexterity as a writer and the story seem to evolve out of another. The story has been described as a history of the Haitian Diaspora very rich in insight and details. Roxane with this story targets different stereotypes about Haitians and Haitian Americans and dispels them.
