Jemisin, N.K.

Impact on the world

Became the first Black writer to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel with 'The Fifth Season' in 2016, then went on to win the award for each subsequent book in her Broken Earth Trilogy, making her the first author of any background to win three consecutive Hugo Awards for Best Novel; she also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2020.

Life & background

An avid reader from early childhood who began writing at age eight, Jemisin earned a psychology degree from Tulane University and a master's in education from the University of Maryland before building a career as one of the most acclaimed science fiction and fantasy writers of the 21st century. Her Broken Earth Trilogy, beginning with 'The Fifth Season' (2015), depicts a far-future Earth periodically devastated by catastrophic 'fifth seasons' of geologic and climatic upheaval; each of the trilogy's three books won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, making Jemisin both the first Black writer to win the award and the first author of any background to win it three years running. She has also written for DC Comics' Green Lantern universe, published the award-winning novelette 'Emergency Skin,' and began the Great Cities series with 'The City We Became' in 2020, the same year she received a MacArthur Fellowship.

Sources

1. Britannica (N.K. Jemisin); MacArthur Foundation