David Wright Faladé is the author of the critically acclaimed novel "Black Cloud Rising," a New York Times’ Critics Pick and one of the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2022. His debut work, the narrative history "Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers," was named one of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Best Books of 2001. He also penned the young adult novel "Away Running," recognized as an Outstanding International Book by the US Board on Books for Young People. His latest novel, "The New Internationals," explores a complex love triangle set in post-WWII Paris.
Faladé’s writing spans historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, and young adult literature, often delving into themes of identity, race, and resilience. A former Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library and Fulbright Fellow to Brazil, he has received accolades from the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Texas Institute of Letters. He currently teaches in the MFA program at the University of Illinois, where he continues to contribute to contemporary literature with his nuanced storytelling.