Jill Nelson (born June 14, 1952) is an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and novelist. She has written several books, including the autobiographical ''Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience'', which won an

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

. She was Professor of Journalism at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

from 1998 to 2003.Jill Nelson biography
at AALBC.

Biography

Born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, Jill Nelson grew up in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

's West Side, spending summers on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

. She attended a boarding school, Solebury School. Her brother is filmmaker

Stanley Nelson Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences. He is a recipient of the 2013 N ...

. She graduated from the City College of New York and went on to study at the

Columbia School of Journalism Columbia most often refers to: * Columbia (personification), the historical personification of the United States * Columbia University, a private university in New York City * Columbia Pictures, an American film studio owned by Sony Pictures * ...

. Nelson wrote for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Magazine'' at its inception, and was awarded the

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Journalist of the Year for her contributions. Her work has also appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'', the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

USA Weekend ''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine published from 1953 to 2014. Founded as ''Family Weekly,'' it was purchased in 1985 by the Gannett Company, which turned it into a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper '' ...

'', and

msnbc.com MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts ...

. Nelson wrote the autobiographical ''Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience'' (1993) about her experiences as a black female journalist at the ''Washington Post''. Her 1997 book ''Straight, No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman'', also autobiographical, discussed role models for black women. Her first work of fiction, ''Sexual Healing'', was published in 2003."Sexual Healing" (review)
''Publishers Weekly'', May 12, 2003.

List of works

*''Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience'' 1993. Hardback ; Softback *''Straight, No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman''. 1997. *Editor, ''Police Brutality: An Anthology''. 2000. *''Sexual Healing''. 2003. Hardback ; paperback *''Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island''. 2005. *''Let's Get It On''. 2009.

References

External links

African American Literature Book Club. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jill 1952 births Living people 20th-century American novelists African-American novelists American women novelists City College of New York faculty Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American memoirists African-American non-fiction writers American women memoirists American women journalists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners American Book Award winners Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American writers