Jennine Capó Crucet is an American novelist and short story writer.

Life

Capó Crucet attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

where she received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in English and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She also graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She is currently an Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Her work has 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 ...

''. Capó Crucet is best known for her short story collection ''How to Leave Hialeah'' which focuses on her experiences as a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

woman growing up in a working-class neighborhood of Miami. For this collection she won the John Gardner Book Award. Her second book, ''Make Your Home Among Strangers'', was released in 2015. This book became the subject of controversy when students at

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...

burned a copy on a grill after a question-and-answer session by Capó Crucet. The book burned at Georgia Southern University was '' My Time Among the Whites''. Capó Crucet's 2024 novel ''Say Hello to My Little Friend'' was published to positive review, with the ''New York Times'' calling it "an impossible-to-define but highly digestible novel about Cuban heritage, migration, motherhood and the heartbreaking way young men float through life lost and desperate for meaning".

Awards

* O. Henry Award *Iowa Short Fiction Prize *John Gardner Book Award

Publications

* * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crucet, Jennine Capo Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American women academics American women novelists American women short story writers American writers of Cuban descent Cornell University alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Year of birth missing (living people)