Jonathan Escoffery

Jonathan Escoffery
BornHouston, Texas, United States
Education
Notable worksIf I Survive You (2022)
Website
jonathanescoffery.com

Jonathan Escoffery is an American writer. His debut novel, If I Survive You, was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction and shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, among other honors. The novel was well received by critics with reviews applauding Escoffery's humor, narrative style, and exploration of identity in the immigrant experience.[1]

Biography

Escoffery was born in Houston, Texas, to Jamaican parents and grew up in Miami, Florida.[2] Escoffery graduated from Florida International University and received a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota.[2][3] As of 2022, he was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern California and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.[3]

Escoffery has cited Sandra Cisneros, Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen as literary influences.[2] He worked as the program coordinator for the writing center Grubstreet in Boston, where he started the Boston Writers of Color group.[2] His short story "Under the Ackee Tree", which was published in The Paris Review, was awarded the Plimpton Prize.[4]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Escoffery received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.[3][5]

In September 2022, If I Survive You was the Belletrist Book Club pick.[6] Booklist included it on their 2022 "Booklist Editors' Choice list for adult books",[7] as well as their 2023 list of the "Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts".[8]

Awards for Escoffery's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2020 “Under the Ackee Tree” Plimpton Prize — Won [3][9]
2022 If I Survive You National Book Award Fiction Longlist [10][11]
National Book Critics Circle Award John Leonard Prize Shortlisted [12][13]
2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize — Longlist [14][15]
Booker Prize — Shortlisted [16][17]
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — Shortlisted [18][19]
Southern Book Prize — Shortlisted [20]
Gordon Burn Prize — Shortlisted [21]
2024 International Dublin Literary Award — Shortlisted [22]

Bibliography

Short fiction

Collections
  • —— (2022). If I Survive You. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9781982191818.

References

  1. ^ "All Book Marks reviews for If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery". Book Marks. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Dwyer, Kate (September 4, 2022). "Jonathan Escoffery Has a Reality He'd Like to Share". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Jonathan Escoffery". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Review, The Paris (March 5, 2020). "Jonathan Escoffery Wins Plimpton Prize; Leigh Newman Wins Terry Southern Prize". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "Jonathan Escoffery". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  6. ^ "Book Club Picks for September 2022". Publishers Weekly. September 7, 2022. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  7. ^ "Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2022". Booklist. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Seaman, Donna (May 15, 2023). "Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts: 2023". Booklist. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  9. ^ "Prizes". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  10. ^ "The 2022 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction". The New Yorker. September 16, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Stewart, Sophia (September 16, 2022). "2022 National Book Award Longlists Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  12. ^ Valdez, Jonah (February 1, 2023). "Here are the finalists for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  13. ^ Stewart, Sophia (January 31, 2023). "2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Schaub, Michael (December 12, 2022). "Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist Is Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  15. ^ Anderson, Porter (December 12, 2022). "The $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2023 Longlist". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Nawotka, Ed (September 21, 2023). "2023 Booker Prize Shortlist Announced". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  17. ^ Wolberg, Sarah (September 22, 2023). "Booker Prize Shortlist Is Announced". Library Journal. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  18. ^ "Awards: PEN/Faulkner Fiction, Aspen Words Finalists". Shelf Awareness. March 8, 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  19. ^ Toll, Martha Anne (March 8, 2023). "Meet the Five PEN/Faulkner Finalists of 2023". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  20. ^ "Awards: Writers' Trust of Canada Winners; SIBA Southern Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness. November 4, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  21. ^ Creamer, Ella (January 25, 2024). "Gordon Burn prize announces 'blazing' shortlist". The Guardian.
  22. ^ "Wright shortlisted for 2024 Dublin Literary Award". Books+Publishing. March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.

Further reading