Jesmyn Ward is an American novelist distinguished by her powerful narratives and poignant prose. Born on April 1, 1977, she has made significant contributions to contemporary literature.

Ward is a revered professor of English at Tulane University and holds the esteemed Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities. Her literary prowess was recognized when she won the National Book Award for Fiction twice; first in 2011 for her second novel Salvage the Bones, and again in 2017 for her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing. Her unique achievement as the only woman and only African American to win this prestigious award twice underscores her exceptional talent.

In 2012, she received the Alex Award for her engaging storytelling, which beautifully captures familial love and community resilience in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Her fiction, often set in the fictitious Mississippi town of Bois Sauvage, showcases her deep connection to the American South.

Before her current role at Tulane, Ward was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and a Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. She has served as an associate professor of Creative Writing, and her work has graced the pages of esteemed publications such as BOMB, A Public Space, and The Oxford American.

In addition to her celebrated novels, Ward is the author of Where the Line Bleeds and Men We Reaped, demonstrating a consistent ability to draw readers into the worlds she creates with her evocative storytelling. Ward continues to impact the literary world with her nuanced exploration of the human experience.