Nafissa Thompson-Spires
United StatesAbout
Nafissa Thompson-Spires is an American writer and academic known for her sharp, satirical fiction exploring Black identity, race, class, and social belonging in contemporary America. She holds a PhD in English from Vanderbilt University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Illinois. Her debut short-story collection, Heads of the Colored People (2018), was longlisted for the National Book Award and won several major literary honors, including the PEN Open Book Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Blending dark humor, unconventional storytelling, and social commentary, her work examines the complexities of identity and the contradictions of everyday life. She teaches creative writing at Cornell University.
