Maisy Card is a writer and public librarian, best known for her debut novel "These Ghosts Are Family." Card was born in the small town of St. Catherine, Jamaica, but moved to the United States with her parents at a young age. Growing up in Queens, New York, surrounded by a large community of Jamaican immigrants, Card was deeply influenced by their stories, which would later become the inspiration for much of her writing.
Card earned a bachelor's degree in American Studies and English from Wesleyan University and then went on to obtain her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Rutgers University. Her non-fiction work has been published in several prestigious publications, including Ampersand Review, Lenny Letter, Liars’ League NYC, AGNI, and Sycamore Review.
Card's debut novel, "These Ghosts Are Family," has received widespread critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including the American Book Award, the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize in Fiction, and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, The Center For Fiction's First Novel Prize, and an Audie Award in the Literary Fiction & Classics category. Her writing has also been featured in The Paris Review's "The Daily," The New York Times, Lenny Letter, AGNI, Guernica, and other publications.
In addition to her work as a writer and librarian, Card is an instructor for the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop and a fiction editor for The Brooklyn Rail. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College, and her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Rutgers University. Card's background in both writing and library science has given her a unique perspective and a deep appreciation for the power of storytelling and the importance of preserving and sharing diverse voices and perspectives.