Raven Leilani Popular Books

Raven Leilani Biography & Facts

Raven Leilani Baptiste (born August 26, 1990) is an American writer who publishes under the name Raven Leilani. Her debut novel Luster was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. Early life and education Leilani grew up in a family of artists in the Bronx before they moved to a suburb of Albany, New York. She grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, and later left the church. Having attended an art high school, Leilani expected to become a visual artist. She graduated Marist College located in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2012, where she studied English and psychology.Her first job was as an imaging specialist at Ancestry.com, having previously worked in the archives of Marist College as an undergraduate. Later, she worked at a scientific journal, for the US Department of Defense, and as a delivery person for Postmates in Washington, D.C. She also worked as an archivist at Macmillan. In 2017, she began pursuing her MFA at New York University, where she studied under Zadie Smith and with writers Katie Kitamura, and Jonathan Safran Foer. She now lives in Brooklyn. Career Leilani's debut novel Luster received significant attention at its publishing. The book's publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux named the book its novel of August 2020 as part of their "Dare to Imagine" campaign. It is also part of Marie Claire's book club and has been lauded by outlets including Elle, the HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and The New York Times. It has been praised by Carmen Maria Machado, Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, and Zadie Smith. Kirkus Reviews awarded Luster the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Luster was also awarded the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the 2020 John Leonard Prize at the National Book Critics Circle Awards, the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize, and the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist AwardLeilani's writing is influenced by her background as a visual artist, her life experiences, poetry, and a love of comic books and music. She has written for publications including Esquire, The Cut, and Vogue. Works Novels Luster. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2020. ISBN 9780374194321. OCLC 1119744688.Short stories "Hard Water" (2016), Cosmonauts Avenue "Breathing Exercise" (2019), Yale Review "Airplane Mode" (2019). SmokeLong QuarterlyReferences External links Official website. Discover the Raven Leilani popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Raven Leilani books.

Best Seller Raven Leilani Books of 2024

  • The Mythmakers synopsis, comments

    The Mythmakers

    Keziah Weir

    A New York Times Editors’ Choice Named a Best New Book of the Year by Harper’s Bazaar Named a Best Book of the Summer by Shondaland, SheReads, The Boston Globe, Harper’s Bazaar, an...

  • Magnolia synopsis, comments

    Magnolia

    Monica Brashears & Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann

    „Dieser Roman ist kraftvoll, verführerisch und subversiv in einem." – Dana SpiottaMagnolia Brown ist neunzehn Jahre alt und eine Waise. Neben einem notorisch überzogenen Bankkonto ...

  • The Wild Laughter synopsis, comments

    The Wild Laughter

    Caoilinn Hughes

    An exhilarating dark comedy about two brothers confronting their father's fate in contemporary Ireland, from a critically acclaimed Irish author'Brilliant. A hilarious, poetical bl...

  • Misrecognition synopsis, comments

    Misrecognition

    Madison Newbound

    For fans of Rachel Cusk and Patricia Lockwood, an unflinchingly sharp and funny debut novel about the internet, postpostmodern adulthood, and queer identity. Elsa is struggling. He...

  • You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty synopsis, comments

    You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

    Akwaeke Emezi

    A Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a Best Romance of 2022 by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Oprah Daily, Vulture, Harper’s Bazaar...

  • Pomegranate synopsis, comments

    Pomegranate

    Helen Elaine Lee

    LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION The acclaimed author of The Serpent’s Gift returns with this “deep and beautiful” (Jaqueline Woodson, New Yo...

  • The Nude synopsis, comments

    The Nude

    C. Michelle Lindley

    A gripping, provocative, and sensual debut novel about an art historian who journeys to a Greek island in pursuit of a found sculpture and quickly finds herself immersed in a cultu...

  • Rosenfeld synopsis, comments

    Rosenfeld

    Maya Kessler

    The internationally bestselling, brazenly sexy, and scathingly candid novel about a whitehot relationship built on scorched earth and the two intractable characters who emerge from...

  • Strings Attached synopsis, comments

    Strings Attached

    Erin Reinelt

    'A stunning, sexy, surprising, supermodern romance that dares to delve where no romcom has gone before. I loved it.' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals Straightlaced Jean has ...