The Writing Program Presents: Nicole Dennis-Benn

Dennis-Benn was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of the debut novel HERE COMES THE SUN (Norton/Liveright, July 2016). Dennis-Benn is a Lambda Literary Award winner, and named by Time Out Magazine “an immigrant putting a stamp on New York City.” HERE COMES THE SUN has received much acclaim including: a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a NPR Best Books of 2016, an Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Entertainment Weekly’s Best Book of 2016. The book has received a starred Kirkus Review and has been recommended by the New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Dennis-Benn was shortlisted for the Texas Library Association 2017 Lariat. She has been named a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, and The New York Public Library Young Lions Award. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, ELLE Magazine, Electric Literature, Lenny Letter, Catapult, and elsewhere. Her writing has been awarded a Richard and Julie Logsdon Fiction Prize; two of her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Fiction. Vice listed Dennis-Benn among immigrant authors “who are making American Literature great again.” Dennis-Benn holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, where she now teaches.