Sarah Monique Broom (born December 31, 1979) is an American writer. Her first book, ''

The Yellow House ''The Yellow House'' ( nl, Het gele huis), alternatively named ''The Street'' ( nl, De straat), is an 1888 oil painting by the 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. The house was the right wing of 2 Place Lamartine, A ...

'' (2019), received the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Early life and education

Broom was born on December 31, 1979 and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, the youngest of twelve children. After attending Word of Faith Academy, she studied anthropology and mass communications at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. Broom also holds a master's degree in Journalism from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and has taught at the

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts, (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, ...

Career

After publishing in a variety of journals, including the ''

New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'', the ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'', and ''

O, the Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

'', she received a 2016 Creative Nonfiction Grant from the Whiting Foundation. Broom has also been named a finalist for the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Fellowship in

Creative Nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

and awarded fellowships at Djerassi Resident Artists Program and the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

''The Yellow House''

Broom's first book ''

'', was published by

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

on August 13, 2019, following the publication of an early excerpt in the ''

'' in 2015. In advance of its publication, Broom's debut memoir, ''The Yellow House'', received positive attention from a number of outlets. In a pre-publication review,

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "This is a major book that I suspect will come to be considered among the essential memoirs of this vexing decade." In ''The'' ''New York Times Book Review'',

Angela Flournoy Angela Flournoy is an American writer. Her debut novel '' The Turner House'' (2015) won the First Novelist Award and was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction, shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, nomi ...

called it “an instantly essential text.” Speaking of Broom in advance of ''The Yellow House''s publication, novelist and '' Believer'' magazine co-founder

Heidi Julavits Heidi Suzanne Julavits (born April 20, 1969) is an American author and was a founding editor of '' The Believer'' magazine. She has been published in ''The Best Creative Nonfiction Vol. 2'', '' Esquire'', ''Culture+Travel'', ''Story'', '' Zoetrope ...

remarked, "I already consider her to be one of America's most important and influential writers." The ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' opined that Broom's book had “essentially told the story of black America in one fell swoop.” Other publications to declare the book's importance included ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

.'' Quoting the book itself, ''Kirkus Reviews'' opined that ''The Yellow House'' reflected the author's attempt "to reckon with 'the psychic cost of defining oneself by the place where you are from,'" adding that "Broom's lyrical style celebrates her family bonds, but a righteous fury runs throughout the narrative at New Orleans' injustices, from the foundation on up." In advance of ''The Yellow House''s publication, it had been listed as a notable book by ''The New York Times'', ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', and the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and further recommended by ''

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 ...

'', and author

Lisa Taddeo Lisa Taddeo is an American author and journalist known for her book '' Three Women''. Taddeo's work has appeared in ''The Best American Political Writing'' and ''The Best American Sports Writing'' anthologies. Early life Taddeo was born in Short ...

, among others.

Personal life

Broom lives 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 (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York with her wife

Dee Rees Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films '' Pariah'' (2011), '' Bessie'' (2015), '' Mudbound'' (2017), and '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and d ...

Accolades

* ''The Yellow House'' - 2019

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...

Bibliography

*''

'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broom, Sarah M. Living people 1979 births 21st-century American women writers Place of birth missing (living people) National Book Award winners Writers from New Orleans African-American memoirists University of North Texas alumni UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni 21st-century American memoirists American women memoirists African-American women writers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women LGBT African Americans 21st-century LGBT people American LGBT writers LGBT memoirists