Ladee Hubbard (born 1970) is an American author and English professor at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. Her debut novel, ''The Talented Ribkins'' won multiple awards. She released its prequel, ''The Rib King'', in 2021. Hubbard has received a

Berlin Prize The Berlin Prize is a residential fellowship at the Hans Arnhold Center, awarded by the American Academy in Berlin to scholars and artists. Each year, about 20 fellows are selected. The stated mission of the program is to improve the transatlan ...

and a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship.

Early life

Hubbard was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her mother found work as a lawyer on

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

, and

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint John (; ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of ...

, so she spent some of her childhood in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

, and spent summers in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

with her grandparents. Hubbard has lived in New Orleans since 2003. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and studied at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where she received her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in creative writing. She has a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Folklore and Mythology from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Work

Hubbard began work on her first novel, ''The Talented Ribkins'', while studying at the

. The book won the

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is an annual national literary award designed to recognize rising African American fiction writers. First awarded in 2007, the prize is underwritten by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundatio ...

and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Novel, and Hubbard herself won the

Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award was an award given annually to beginning women writers. Established in 1995 by American author Rona Jaffe, the Foundation offers grants to writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The award wa ...

. The central characters of the story each possess odd superpowers. Protagonist Johnny Ripkins is capable of drawing a map of any place regardless of whether he has any firsthand knowledge. Ripkins begins the novel on the run, and Hubbard has said that "debt and paying back what you owe" as motivating factors inspired her. The odd powers were influenced by

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

's idea of the

talented tenth The talented tenth is a term that designated a leadership class of African Americans in the early 20th century. Although the term was created by white Northern philanthropists, it is primarily associated with W. E. B. Du Bois, who used it as the ...

and common misinterpretations of the concept. ''The Rib King'', her second novel, is a revenge story set in the early 20th century in a fictional city based on Chicago, Illinois. It is a prequel to her debut novel. The first half follows the story of Mr. Sitwell, the Black groundskeeper for the White Barclay family. The Barclays sell bottled barbecue sauce with a cartoonish version of Sitwell—the "Rib King"—on the label. The book focuses on racism, inequality, the Black middle class, and unpunished violence. Released in 2022, ''The Last Suspicious Holdout'', is a collection of short stories, all set in the 1990s to early 2000s in a mostly Black suburb. The stories were written over a period several years beginning when

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

was elected as the United States' first Black president. Hubbard says the stories reflect her experience growing up in "the post-civil rights era" and "the resiliency and artistry" in the Black community. Critic Mike Peed noted how the stories chart personal and political traumas that are intertwined.

Bibliography

Books

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Excerpt.
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Selected publications

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Ladee 1970 births Living people American women short story writers Novelists from Louisiana Writers from New Orleans