Jennifer Clement (born 1960) is an American-Mexican author. Clement has written several novels, including ''Gun Love'' (2018) and ''Prayers for the Stolen'' (2014), and published several collections of poetry and the memoirs 'Widow Basquiat' (2001)and 'The Promised Party'(2024). She is the first and only woman president of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, elected in 2015.

Early life and education

Born in 1960 in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, Clement moved in 1961 with her family to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where she later attended Edron Academy. She moved to the United States to finish high school at Cranbrook Kingswood School, before studying English Literature and Anthropology at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She received her MFA from the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

. She is the co-director and founder, with her sister Barbara Sibley, of the San Miguel Poetry Week. Clement lives in Mexico City, Mexico.

Writing career

Clement's first book, ''Widow Basquiat'', is a memoir about artist

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

's relationship with his muse

Suzanne Mallouk Suzanne Mallouk (born September 10, 1960) is a Canadian-born painter, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, based in New York City. She is best known for her role within a core of East Village creatives in the 1980s and for her relationship with art ...

—told from Mallouk's perspective. It was originally published in 2000 and re-released in 2014 as ''Widow Basquiat: A Love Story''.

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

'' wrote: "Magical…''Widow Basquiat'' conjures real characters, a real time and real place. It's not theory – it's representation. … The life of Basquiat … is a joyous lightning bolt when it is described in true detail, as it is in Clement's extraordinary as-told-to poem." Her first novel, ''A True Story Based on Lies'', was a finalist in the

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

. ''Prayers for the Stolen'' came out in 2014 and became a ''

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 ...

'' Book Review Editor's Choice Book, First Selection for National Reading Group Month's Great Group Reads, and appeared internationally on many "Best Books of the Year" lists, including ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

''. ''Auf der Zunge'' ("On the Tip of the Tongue"), was published by

Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010, ...

in Germany in April 2022. Clement is also the author of several books of poetry: ''The Next Stranger'' with an introduction by W. S. Merwin (1993), ''Newton's Sailor'', ''Lady of the Broom'' (2002) and ''Jennifer Clement: New and Selected Poems'' (2008). Her prize-winning story ''A Salamander-Child'' is published as an art book, with work by the Mexican painter Gustavo Monroy.

Other activities

She is a member of Mexico's prestigious ''

Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte The Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA; ''National System of Art Creators'') is program developed by the former Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, and founded per presidential decree on September 3, 1993. Its goal is the advance ...

''. Jennifer Clement, along with her sister Barbara Sibley, is the founder and director The San Miguel Poetry Week. She served as President of PEN Mexico from 2009 to 2012. In 2015, she was elected as the first woman president of

, an organization founded in 1921. Under her leadership, the groundbreaking PEN International Women's Manifesto and The Democracy of the Imagination Manifesto were created. As president of PEN Mexico she spoke extensively about the safety of journalists in Mexico and was instrumental in raising the issue and changing the law so that the killing of a journalist became a federal crime. In 2021 she was one of the authors who produced ''Pen International: An Illustrated History: Literature Knows No Frontiers.''

Film

* '' Prayers for the Stolen'', directed by

Tatiana Huezo Tatiana Huezo Sánchez (; born 9 January 1972) is a film director of Salvadoran and Mexican nationality, residing in Mexico. Her first film, ' (2011), a documentary about the Salvadoran Civil War, has been awarded internationally. In 2016 she ...

(titled ''Noche de fuego'') and produced by Nicolas Celis and Jim Stark at Pimienta Films was Mexico's entry for the 2022 Oscars. Among many prizes, the film was awarded the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Award. * ''Gun Love'', directed by

Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, with ...

and produced by Nick Wechsler and Chockstone Pictures partners Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz as well as Lynn Hendee and

Recognition and awards

Clement was awarded the

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Fellowship for Literature in 2012 for her novel ''Prayers for the Stolen'' and was honored with The Sara Curry Humanitarian Award for that work. She is also the recipient of the UK's Canongate Prize. Clement is a Santa Maddalena Foundation Fellow, the

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

's Robert and Stephanie Olmsted Fellow for 2007-08 and, in 2015, was chosen to be a

City of Asylum City of Asylum (more formally City of Asylum/Pittsburgh) is a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that helps writers exiled from their countries for their controversial writing. Exiled writers accepted to the organization ...

Resident in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, PA. In 2016, she was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

for her new novel ''Gun Love''. ''Gun Love'' was named one of ''

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

'' magazine's top 10 books of 2019 and was also a New York Times Editor's Choice Book, and a National Book Award finalist, among other honors. Clement's books have been translated into 36 languages. Other honors and awards include: *Sydney Harman Writer-in-Residence, Baruch College (City University of New York), 2020 *''Gun Love'': National Book Award, finalist, 2018 *''Gun Love'': ''Time'' magazine top 10 books of 2019 *''Gun Love'': A ''New York Times'' Editor's Choice Book, 2018 *

, US, 2016 *HIPGiver Honor (honoring Latinos who have made exceptional contributions to their communities), US, 2016 *Hermitage Residency, US, 2016 *Grand Prix des Lectrices Lyceenes de Elle (sponsored by ''Elle Magazine'', the French Ministry of Education and Maison des écrivains et de la littérature) France, 2015 *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalist, US, 2015 *City of Asylum Resident, Pittsburgh, PA, US, 2015 *Community College of Baltimore County, Essex - ''Prayers for the Stolen'': selected novel for the Community Book Connection Program 2015–2106 *''The Irish Times'' Best Books List 2014 *The Sara Curry Humanitarian Award, 2014 * Santa Maddalena Foundation Fellowship, Italy, 2014 *Shortlist Prix Femina, France, 2014 *''Prayers for the Stolen'': A ''New York Times'' Editor's Choice Book, 2014 *National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, 2012 *President of PEN Mexico, 2009–2012 *The Sandburg-Auden-Stein Poet-in-Residence, Olivet College, 2011 *Writer-in-Residence Pen, Vlaanderen, Antwerp, Belgium, 2010 *The Thornton Writer-in-Residence, Lynchburg College, VA, 2009 *Robert and Stephanie Olmsted Fellow, 2007–2008 (awarded by The MacDowell Colony) *MacDowell Colony Fellowship, 2007 *Residency in Berlin granted by the Goethe Institute and Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, 2004 *Finalist in the Orange Prize for Fiction, 2002, UK (for ''A True Story Based on Lies'') *The Canongate Prize for New Writing 2001, UK (judged by ''The Herald'', ''The Sunday Herald'', Waterstone's, Channel Four, BBC, and Canongate Books) *''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...

''s Choice List, 2000, UK (for the memoir ''Widow Basquiat'') *U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture (Conaculta/Fonca/Bancomer/The Rockefeller Foundation) grant in support of The San Miguel Poetry Week *Member of Mexico's "Sistema Nacional de Creadores", FONCA, Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Jennifer 1960 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American emigrants to Mexico American women novelists Living people New York University alumni Novelists from Connecticut PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Writers from Mexico City Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut