Rana Mungin (September 23, 1989 – April 27, 2020), known as Zoe Mungin, was an American writer and teacher. She was working on her first novel, ''Sed Ministrare'', at the time of her death. Mungin died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in the early months of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after twice being denied testing and treatment.

Biography

Mungin was born on September 23, 1989, and raised in the

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...

neighborhood of Brooklyn. She graduated from Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities and

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

before studying fiction at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

, where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in 2015. In 2014, she published an account about a racist incident directed at her in a workshop. The retaliation she experienced after speaking out about this event prompted her to file a formal complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in 2015. Mungin's writing appeared in literary magazines ''Quarterly West'', the Black Youth Project, and ''Route Nine''. In 2013, she won the

AWP AWP may refer to: Organizations Political parties *American Workers Party *Animal Welfare Party, a political party in the United Kingdom * Australian Workers Party, a political party in Australia *Awami Workers Party, a left-wing political party ...

Intro Journals prize in fiction. Mungin was interviewed by ''Wellesley Underground'' and the ''

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 ...

'' about her experience as a Black woman writer in a predominantly white MFA program. Mungin taught composition at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst;

New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a Public university, public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local indust ...

; and

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

before joining Bushwick Ascend Middle School as a social studies teacher in 2017. Mungin's 2020 death, and the story of how she was denied medical care during the

, garnered widespread media coverage and outcry that questioned the underlying issues behind her deficient treatment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mungin, Rana Zoe 1989 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey Wellesley College alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Writers from Brooklyn 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American women writers