Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Lady Rushdie (born December 6, 1978) is an American poet, novelist, photographer and visual artist who is the author of five published collections of poems. In ''Seeing the Body'' (2020), she "pairs poetry with photography, exploring memory, Black womanhood, the American landscape, and rebirth." It was a nominee for the 2021 NAACP Image Award in Poetry.

Biography

Born in

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 ...

, she was the eldest of four children of Michele Antoinette Pray-Griffiths and Norman Dwight Griffiths. Her father was an environmental lawyer, her mother a community organizer and former police officer. Rachel Eliza Griffiths graduated from St. Mark's High School and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

, where she earned her undergraduate degree and her first master's degree. She received an MFA in creative writing from

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

. She has been awarded several fellowships, including from

Cave Canem Foundation Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programs and wr ...

, Kimbilio,

Millay Colony Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

Provincetown Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pr ...

Fine Arts Work Center The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise that supports emerging visual artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The Work Center was founded in 1968 by a group of American artists and writers to support promising individual ...

, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

. Among the many journals, periodicals and other outlets in which Griffiths has been published are ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...

'', ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Foll ...

'', ''

The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Ficti ...

'', ''

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

'', ''

Callaloo Callaloo ( , ; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux, or callalloo) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called call ...

'', ''

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'' ...

'', ''

American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'', ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

'', ''

The Writer's Chronicle ''The Writer's Chronicle'' is a journal published six times each year. It is the flagship publication of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. The ''Writer's Chronicle'' "presents essays, articles, news, and information designed to enli ...

'', '' Transition'', ''

American Poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...

'', ''Mosaic'', '' Indiana Review'', and '' Ecotone Magazine''. In 2011, she was featured in the first poetry issue of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

's ''

O 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. In 2021, Winfrey and Hearst rebranded it as ''Oprah Daily''. Overview It was first pub ...

''. Griffiths was the creator of the series of video interviews Poets on Poetry (P.O.P), in which contemporary poets discuss poetry "in relation to individual human experience and culture". Speaking in 2015 about working in a variety of genres, she said: "I like the fluidity each genre offers me spatially, emotionally, and creatively. I can take an idea, word/fragment, or image and open it up across forms." She is the author of five collections of poems: ''Miracle Arrhythmia'' (2010), ''The Requited Distance'' (2011), ''Mule & Pear'' (2011), ''Lighting the Shadow'' (2015), and ''Seeing the Body'' (2020). ''Mule & Pear'' won the 2012 inaugural Poetry Award from the

Black Caucus of the American Library Association The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA) that focuses on the needs of African-American library professionals by promoting careers in librarianship, funding literacy i ...

, and ''Lighting the Shadow'' was a finalist for the 2015 Balcones Poetry Prize and for the 2016 Phillis Wheatley Book Award (Poetry category). In 2020's ''Seeing the Body'', Griffiths uses photography as well as poetry to tell the story of her mother's death in 2014 and, as described by ''

'' magazine, "brings together poetry and photography to powerful effect, providing the reader with an experience that’s both visually and emotionally arresting". For the ''

'', "The result is a radiant and soulful collection." ''Seeing the Body'' was selected as one of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's Best Books of 2020, and was a nominee for the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry. ''Seeing the Body'' won the 2021 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry, and was also the winner of the 2021 Paterson Poetry Prize awarded by the Poetry Center at

Passaic County Community College Passaic County Community College (PCCC) is a public community college in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Campuses PCCC has four campuses located throughout the county it serves. The main campus is located in Paterson, New Jersey, and ...

. Anthologies in which work by Griffiths has appeared include ''Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry'' (edited by Camille T. Dungy, 2009), '' New Daughters of Africa'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

(2019), and ''The Best American Poetry 2021'' (edited by Tracy K. Smith). Griffiths was chosen as poet-in-residence for 2020 at the

Stella Adler Studio of Acting The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is a prestigious acting school that was founded by actress and teacher Stella Adler.

. In February 2021, Griffiths was guest editor for the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

initiative Poem-a-Day. Her 2023 debut novel, ''Promise'', was published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in the US, and John Murray in the UK. It was described in ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' as a "stunning and evocative portrait of love, pride, and survival". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

reviewer said "''Promise'' is by turns enchanting and enraging, and it left me emotionally shattered."

Personal life

Griffiths identifies as a "queer black woman". As of 2021, Griffiths lives in New York City. In 2021, she married Indian-born, British-American novelist

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Bibliography

* ''Miracle Arrhythmia'' (Willow Books, 2010, ) * ''The Requited Distance'' (The Sheep Meadow Press, 2011, ) * ''Mule & Pear'' (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2011, ) * ''Lighting the Shadow'' (Four Way Books, 2015, ) * ''Seeing the Body'', poetry and photography (W. W. Norton, 2020, ) * ''Promise'', novel (US: Random House, ; UK: John Murray, , July 2023)

References

External links

Official website
*

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

"The Rumpus Interview with Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
''

The Rumpus ''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine founded by Stephen Elliott (author), Stephen Elliott, and launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as origi ...

'', January 12, 2012. * Danielle Susi
"Dinnerview: Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
''

Entropy Entropy is a scientific concept, most commonly associated with states of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodynamics, where it was first recognized, to the micros ...

'', June 12, 2015. * Natalie Diaz
"The PEN Ten with Rachel Eliza Griffiths"

PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide th ...

, November 17, 2015. * Elaine Sexton
"Double-Consciousness: A Micro-Interview with Rachel Eliza Griffths"
''Tupelo Quarterly'', February 14, 2017. * Kevin Young
"Rachel Eliza Griffiths Reads W.S. Merwin"
''The New Yorker: Poetry'', April 17, 2019.
"Ten Questions for Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
''Poets & Writers'', June 9. 2020.
"Interview with Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
''Four Way Review'', June 15, 2020.
"Poets House Presents: Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
YouTube, June 19, 2020.
"Stopping by with Rachel Eliza Griffiths"

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

, 2021. * Susan Thornton Hobby
"Poetry Moment: Poems of beauty and terror with Rachel Eliza Griffiths"
''Hocopolitso'', January 1, 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Rachel Eliza 1978 births Living people 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American photographers 21st-century American women photographers 21st-century American women writers African-American novelists African-American poets American women novelists American women poets Novelists from Washington, D.C. Photographers from New York City Poets from Washington, D.C. Sarah Lawrence College alumni University of Delaware alumni Wives of knights Salman Rushdie

Biography

Personal life

Bibliography

Further reading

References

External links