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ZZ Packer

(She/Her)
United States
As seen in: The New York Times, Harvard Gazette, NPR, Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, GQ, WNYC (New York, NY), WSB-TV (Atlanta, GA), KIRO-TV (Seattle, WA), Literary Hub and
Covers:  Books, Literature, Narrative, Voice in Fiction, Race, Reconstruction, Breonna Taylor, Louisville, KY, the Buffalo Soldiers
Author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. Guggenheim, National Book Award 5 Under 35, PEN, NEA, @NewYorker @NYTMag @WME @VanderbiltU #1619Project #BreonnaTaylor
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ZZ Packer’s Journalist Portfolio

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Penguin Random House To Publish "The 1619 Project" | The New York Times Company

Penguin Random House To Publish "The 1619 Project" | The New York Times Company

nytco.com — Penguin Random House is thrilled to announce November 16, 2021 as the publication date for THE 1619 PROJECT: A New Origin Story created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine and The 1619 Project's BORN ON THE WATER by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith.
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New Yorker Classics

New Yorker Classics

The New Yorker — The short-story writer and journalist ZZ Packer renders the complexities of history with skill and poignancy. Since she published her first piece in The New Yorker, in 2000, she has demonstrated a singular range, contributing short stories, essays on Breonna Taylor and John Updike, and a pair of humor pieces that responded to the degradations of the Trump era.
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Brownies

Brownies

encyclopedia.com — Brownies ZZ Packer2003 "Brownies" is a story by ZZ Packer, a young African American writer. It appears in Packer's short story collection, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, which was published in 2003 to great acclaim. The story is about a Brownie troop of fourth-grade African American girls from suburban Atlanta, Georgia, who go to summer camp.
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What Happens to a Professor When His Theory of Anti-Racism Goes Mainstream?

What Happens to a Professor When His Theory of Anti-Racism Goes Mainstream?

GQ — Ibram X. Kendi's 'How To Be An Antiracist' has been parked at the top of the bestseller list for most of the year. He talks about how that success has upended his life-and where he'll take his ideas from here.
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Plotting her return

Plotting her return

Harvard Gazette — As the saying goes, "From those to whom much is given, much is expected." For more than a decade, much has been expected from ZZ Packer, the gifted writer whose breakout story collection left critics and fans wanting more.
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From Matthew Klam to ZZ Packer: Some writers are worth the wait

From Matthew Klam to ZZ Packer: Some writers are worth the wait

Chicago Tribune — For 17 years, I waited and wondered when Matthew Klam would publish another book. "Sam the Cat," a collection of stories from 2000, had followed Klam's selection as part of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" in 1999, a list that also included Michael Chabon, Jhumpa Lahiri, David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen (before "The Corrections" was published).
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In Conversation - ZZ Packer

In Conversation - ZZ Packer

sarahladipomanyika.com — Acclaimed author ZZ Packer has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award, a Whiting Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Packer is the author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. She is currently at work on a novel, Thousands, about the Buffalo Soldiers, which was excerpted in The New Yorker 's 20 Under 40 Fiction Issue.
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Learn more about ZZ Packer's writing, published books, and more #readingblack

Learn more about ZZ Packer's writing, published books, and more #readingblack

aalbc.com — Named one of the writers to watch in Book magazine's special "Newcomers" issue, ZZ Packer earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1994; an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1995; and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1999.
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ZZ Packer - National Book Foundation

ZZ Packer - National Book Foundation

nationalbook.org — ZZ Packer was born in Chicago and raised in Atlanta and Louisville. She attended Yale University and the Writing Seminar at Johns Hopkins University, The Writers' Workshop at Iowa University and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. More about this author >
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1619 Books

1619 Books

1619books.com — Additional contributors of THE 1619 PROJECT: A New Origin Story , include Michelle Alexander, Leslie Alexander, Carol Anderson, Joshua Bennett, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Jamelle Bouie, Anthea Butler, Matthew Desmond, Rita Dove, Camille Dungy, Cornelius Eady, Eve L. Ewing, Nikky Finney, Vievee Francis, Yaa Gyasi, Forrest Hamer, Terrance Hayes, Kimberly Annece Henderson, Jeneen Interlandi, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Barry Jenkins, Tyehimba Jess, Martha S.
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A New Literary Timeline of African-American History (Published 2019)

A New Literary Timeline of African-American History (Published 2019)

The New York Times — Clint Smith is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University and the author of the poetry collection "Counting Descent," as well as a forthcoming nonfiction book, "How the Word Is Passed." Photo illustration by Jon Key. Diagram: Getty Images. Pretend I wrote this at your grave. Pretend the grave is marked.
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ZZ Packer

ZZ Packer

The American Prospect — ZZ Packer
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Kentucky Author Forum Presents > KET

Kentucky Author Forum Presents > KET

Kentucky Educational Television — The University of Louisville's Kentucky Author Forum is a non-profit, nationally recognized literary event. Four times each year, renowned authors are paired with interviewers - who are interesting in their own right - and their conversation is taped before a live audience at Louisville's Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.
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43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language

43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language

Literary Hub — Last year, I put together this list of the most iconic poems in the English language; it's high time to do the same for short stories. But before we go any further, you may be asking: What does "iconic" mean in this context?
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Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

penguin.co.uk — An unusual, witty anthology of love stories selected by Ali Smith, Kasia Boddy and Sarah Wood. Love means never having to say you're sorry. No, love is in the air. No, love is the sweetest thing. No, it's soft as an easy chair. No, it's a stranger in an open car.
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Lit Hub Recommends: Earthlings, ZZ Packer, and Bob's Burgers

Lit Hub Recommends: Earthlings, ZZ Packer, and Bob's Burgers

Literary Hub — This month I'm recommending the surprisingly delightful Apple TV series Ted Lasso as a post-election palate-cleanser. I'm also recommending the short stories of Kevin Barry and ZZ Packer. Finally, I highly recommend drinking the fancy booze you've been saving for a special occasion, because that special occasion may never arrive, or you may die before it does.
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ZZ Packer

ZZ Packer

Poets & Writers Magazine — Our series of subject-based handbooks (PDF format; $4.99 each) provide information and advice from authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers. Now available: The Poets & Writers Guide to Publicity and Promotion, The Poets & Writers Guide to the Book Deal, The Poets & Writers Guide to Literary Agents, The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs, and The Poets & Writers Guide to Writing Contests.
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135. SHORT STORY MONDAY: Dayward by ZZ Packer

135. SHORT STORY MONDAY: Dayward by ZZ Packer

blogspot.com — ZZ Packer's Dayward is set in the period when the emancipation law has been passed and blacks in America were free to leave their masters and live as freed people. Lazarus and his deaf sister, Mary Celeste, though free, are on the run from the Five Daughters.
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ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Victoria Ludwin - BOMB Magazine

ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Victoria Ludwin - BOMB Magazine

BOMB Magazine — The desire for escape floods ZZ Packer's debut collection of stories, carrying the narrative and seeping into the characters. Protagonists flee via bus, plane, borrowed car, and foot, running away from one group of people in the hopes of making a connection with others elsewhere.
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Sarah Cooper Doesn't Mimic Trump. She Exposes Him. (Published 2020)

Sarah Cooper Doesn't Mimic Trump. She Exposes Him. (Published 2020)

The New York Times — Screenland When Sarah Cooper lip-syncs Donald Trump's news conferences, there's no lectern or presidential seal. There's no Mike Pence, face calibrated to Placid Gratitude as he gazes beatifically into the middle distance, and no Dr. Anthony Fauci, looking as though he'd give anything to be transported someplace better, like maybe Edvard Munch's "The Scream."
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News of an 'Outrage' Used to Mean Something Very, Very Different (Published 2018)

News of an 'Outrage' Used to Mean Something Very, Very Different (Published 2018)

The New York Times — First Words News celibacy is real. Everyone knows that if you don't set limits, you'll find yourself distracted by alert notifications, or looking up the history of Qatar, or wondering if the name Avenatti appears anywhere in Dante's "The Divine Comedy."
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ZZ Packer Reads Lesley Nneka Arimah | The New Yorker: Fiction | WNYC

ZZ Packer Reads Lesley Nneka Arimah | The New Yorker: Fiction | WNYC

WNYC (New York, NY) — The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss "Who Will Greet You at Home," by Lesley Nneka Arimah, from a 2015 issue of the magazine.
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Best Books 2021: Books We Love

Best Books 2021: Books We Love

NPR — Here are 360+ great reads from 2021 handpicked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.
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A Full Audiobook Cast Brings The New York Times Bestselling THE 1619 PROJECT to Life

A Full Audiobook Cast Brings The New York Times Bestselling THE 1619 PROJECT to Life

penguinrandomhouseaudio.com — A Full Audiobook Cast Brings The New York Times Bestselling THE 1619 PROJECT to Life The New York Times Magazine's award-winning "1619 Project" issue reframed the understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative.
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