Award-winning writer Marita Golden to spend week in residence with Hussman School Feb. 10-14
The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media will host Marita Golden — award-winning author distinguished in both nonfiction and fiction genres — for a week in residence Feb. 10-14 to include guest class lectures, a writing workshop and student-mentoring opportunities.
Register for Golden’s Tuesday, Feb. 12, Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop from 4–5:30 p.m. in the Hussman School’s Reese News Lab, 11 Carroll Hall. The workshop is free and open to all students, but space is limited and reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Members of the campus community are also invited to attend a special session of the school’s “MEJO 101: The Media Revolution: From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg and Beyond” course featuring Golden on Wednesday, Feb. 13, from 4:40–5:55 p.m.
Golden, who holds degrees in English and American studies from American University and a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, grew up in Washington, D.C., writing poetry and news articles for high school and college newspapers. She began a freelance career writing for publications including The New York Times and Essence magazine.
Her writing evolved to longer works exploring themes of the intersection of the personal and political, the bonds of friendship among Black women, and both the stresses on and resilience of Black families. Golden often tackles difficult and controversial subjects in her writing.
“I like to think of myself as a literary disturber of the peace,” she said. “A good narrative, whether it is fiction or nonfiction, requires that you look at and experience the world with new eyes and a new heart.”
Among her works of nonfiction is “Migrations of the Heart,” an exploration of the issues of cultural identity and the impact of the social and political changes of the late 1960s. The book has been adopted at colleges and universities for campus-wide reading projects and for use in courses from African-American literature to sociology.
Golden has earned numerous honors and distinctions including the Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Distinguished Service Award from the Authors Guild. She has been twice-nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work.
Golden founded and served as the first president of the African-American Writers Guild. She also co-founded the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, which presents the nation’s only national fiction award for college writers of African descent and an annual workshop for Black writers.
“I served on the Hurston/Wright Foundation board with Marita, and I know the importance of foundation’s award to young writers,” said Susan King, dean of the Hussman School. “I believe Marita’s transition from journalism to longer form stories and narratives is an experience our students will find both challenging and inspiring.”
Golden has taught courses, lectured and served as a writer-in-residence at many universities including Johns Hopkins University, William and Mary University, Howard University, Old Dominion University, Brandeis University, Hampton University, American University, George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University.