Roseanne A. Brown (born August 26, 1995) is a Ghanaian American writer of fantasy, science fiction and

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. She is best known for her debut novel '' A Song of Wraiths and Ruin'', which became a

New York Times best seller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

, and its sequel, ''A Psalm of Storms and Silence''.

Early life

Roseanne A. Brown was born in

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

to two Ghanaian parents; her mother is from the Akan tribe. She immigrated when she was three years old along with her family to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As a child, she started writing stories and listened to several '' West African folktales'' including that of

Anansi Anansi or Ananse ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is a character in Akan religion and folklore associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery, most commonly depicted as a spider. Anansi is a character who reflects the culture ...

narrated by her parents. Brown graduated from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

with a

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 ...

in Journalism and was also a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...

for the school's Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. Brown has written many journalistic work for several outlets including

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

Career

Brown's debut novel inspired by her Ghanaian heritage and West African folktales, '' A Song of Wraiths and Ruin'' was published in 2020 by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

. It was a ''

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 ...

'' best book of 2020 and a New York Times best seller. It garnered generally positive receptions. It was followed by a sequel; ''A Psalm of Storms and Silence'' which was published in November 2021 In 2021, it was announced that Rick Riordan Presents had acquired the right to publish ''Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting,'' the first book in Brown's second fantasy series based on Akan mythology. It was released on September 6, 2022. Other Works In December 2021,

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

announced that Brown alongside illustrators Dika Araújo, Natacha Bustos and Claudia Aguirre will be writing an original graphic novel based on the

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

titled ''Shuri and T'Challa: Into the Heartlands''. It was released on April 19, 2022.

Bibliography

* '' A Song of Wraiths and Ruin'' (2020 Balzer + Bray) * ''A Psalm of Storms and Silence'' (2021, Balzer + Bray) * ''Shuri and T'Challa: Into the Heartlands'' (2022, Marvel) * ''Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting'' (2022, Rick Riordan Presents)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Roseanne A. 21st-century American novelists 21st-century Ghanaian women writers Ghanaian novelists Ghanaian romantic fiction writers Ghanaian women novelists American women novelists Living people American people of Ghanaian descent American writers of young adult literature 21st-century American women writers Writers from Maryland People from Kumasi American women science fiction and fantasy writers Speculative fiction writers of African descent African-American novelists 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Ghanaian women writers 1995 births American women writers of young adult literature