Nicole Dennis-Benn is a celebrated author, hailing from Kingston, Jamaica. She is best known for her novel, "Here Comes the Sun," which was named the Best Book of the Year by the New York Times and many other publications. The novel delves into several contentious issues prevalent in Jamaica, with Dennis-Benn expressing her hope that it will stimulate important conversations and contemplation.
Dennis-Benn was born in 1982 and spent her early years in Vineyard Town before relocating to Portmore, St. Catherine with her family. At the age of 11, she secured a scholarship to study at the prestigious St Andrew High School in Kingston. However, she decided to leave Jamaica at 17 due to her dissatisfaction with class and race inequalities and the limited opportunities for success. Currently, she resides in Brooklyn and continues to work on her future literary works.
In addition to "Here Comes the Sun," Dennis-Benn has written other novels, including "PATSY," published on June 4, 2019. She has received numerous accolades for her writing, including the Lambda Literary Award and the New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship. Her debut novel, "Here Comes the Sun," was a finalist for several prestigious awards, including the John Leonard Prize National Book Critics Circle Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the Young Lions Fiction Award. The novel was also named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and received recognition from various publications as one of the best books of the year.
Dennis-Benn is an accomplished writer who has contributed to several publications, including the New York Times, Elle, Ebony, Electric Literature, Mosaic, Lenny Letter, and Catapult, among others. She has received various awards and fellowships for her writing, including the Richard and Julie Logsdon Fiction Prize, two Pushcart Prize in Fiction nominations, and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Lambda, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Hurston/Wright Foundation, and the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Currently, Dennis-Benn works as a Lecturer in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University. She holds degrees from Cornell University, the University of Michigan, and Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in Brooklyn with her wife.