Morgan Jerkins is a highly accomplished journalist, author, and editor, best known for her insightful debut novel, "This Will Be My Undoing." The essay collection explores the social dynamics that have shaped the experiences of black women in America for centuries. Published in January 2018, the book quickly became a New York Times bestseller and has received widespread recognition and praise from prominent publications and authors.
Jerkins' work has been featured in various well-known publications, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Esquire, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic. She has earned a reputation as a critic, a star, a scholar, a blessing, and a force, as described by Porochista Khakpour. Similarly, Roxane Gay has hailed Jerkins as a writer to be reckoned with.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Jerkins holds a Bachelor's Degree in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and an MFA in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She has worked as an Associate Editor at Catapult and taught in the MFA program at Columbia University. Currently, Jerkins serves as the Senior Editor at ZORA, a magazine publication by Medium.
Jerkins' accomplishments extend beyond her writing and editing work. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the Bennington Writing Seminars, and she has served as the Picador Professor at Leipzig University in Germany. She is also a teacher at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Jerkins is based in Harlem and is fluent in six languages, including English, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. She has four older sisters and is a passionate dog lover. Jerkins' love for the popular television series Game of Thrones is also well-known, as she never tires of hearing fans' theories about the show.