LaShonda K. Barnett: Difference between revisions

'''LaShonda Katrice Barnett''' is an American author, radio host, teacher, lecturer. Her fiction, music books and plays are known for their themes about the African diaspora and race. She has a collection of short stories, three music books, a trilogy of full-length plays. Her 2015 debut novel ''Jam! On the Vine,'' drew attention to the author and scholar.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.npr.org/2015/02/08/384695774/black-and-female-in-jim-crow-era-a-reporter-in-kansas-citys-vine|title = NPR|date = 2/08/2015|accessdate = |website = Black And Female In Jim Crow Era, A Reporter In 'Jam! On the Vine'|publisher = NPR|last = |first = }}</ref> In 2014, Barnett's short stories were featured in ''The Chicago Tribune,'' ''Gemini Magazine'' and ''Guernica Magazine.'' She's been nominated twice for the 2015 Pushcart Prize.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>

LaShonda Katrice Barnett was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1974. She grew up on Park Forest, Illinois. Barnett has identified herself as a lesbian<ref>{{Cite web|title = LaShonda Katrice Barnett on Hot Lesbian Sex Scenes, the Black Press, and Her New Novel ‘Jam on the Vine’|url = http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/02/19/lashonda-katrice-barnett-on-hot-lesbian-sex-scenes-the-black-press-and-her-new-novel-jam-on-the-vine/|website = Lambda Literary|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref> and often writes with same-sex female characters in mind in her short stories, plays and her first novel "Jam! On the Vine." She's held residencies at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts-Martha’s Vineyard, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Fine Arts Work Center. She's been a Tennessee Williams Fellow and received a Standards Best Small Press Book Award for her short stories collection "Callalou & Other Lesbian Love Tales" in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>

Barnett has a love for music, as evidenced with her jazz program for WBAI (99.5 FM, NYC). She hosted the jazz show. In 2007, Barnett interviewed female musicians about the African diaspora and edited "I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters On Their Craft and "Off The Record: Conversations With African American & Brazilian Women Musicians" in 2015. Barnett lectured on women in jazz at the Lincoln Center and in on jazz as a whole in several countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>

Barnett taught at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College on history and literature.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>

Barnett received her B.A. from the University of Missouri, a M.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph. D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary. She earned a B.A. in Women's History from the University of Missouri and an M.A. in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College. Barnett received grants for her work from National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the College Language Association.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>

Barnett lives in upper west side Manhattan as a full-time writer.<ref>{{Cite web|title = About|url = http://www.lashondabarnett.com/about.html|website = LaShonda  Katrice  Barnett|accessdate = 2015-05-05}}</ref>