Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
Born 1982
Occupation Contributing writer, The New York Times Magazine
Education MFA, Columbia University
Notable works

"When the Lights Shut Off: Kendrick Lamar and the Decline of the Black Blues Narrative," Los Angeles Review of Books, January 2013

"If He Hollers Let Him Go: Searching for Dave Chappelle ten years after he left his own show," The Believer, October 2013

"The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison," The New York Times Magazine, April 2015

"The Weight of James Baldwin," The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, August 2016
Website
The Uncollected Works of RKG

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah (born 1982) is an American essayist. She is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine[1][2] and author of the forthcoming The Explainers and the Explorers (Scribner 2018)[3] on "how black America will define itself in the 21st century."[4] In 2014, Ghansah's profile in The Believer of elusive comedian Dave Chappelle was a National Magazine Award finalist[5] and collected in 2014 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading[6] as well as The Believer's anthology Read Harder (2014). Writing in the New York Times, Evan Hughes reviewed her essay's appearance in that collection as "more forceful work...[a] searching profile."[7]

Ghansah grew up in Philadelphia. Early in her career she worked for Rich Nichols and The Roots[8] as well as dream hampton before becoming a public school teacher.[9] She graduated from Columbia University's MFA program in writing in 2011,[10] and has taught at Columbia University, Bard College, and Eugene Lang College.

In addition to notice for the Chappelle piece,[11] Ghansah has drawn particular recognition for her longform profiles of subjects like Kendrick Lamar, Chirlane McCray,[12] and Toni Morrison[13]—which Flavorwire recommended as "necessary, even recuperative"[14]—as well as essays on Beyoncé's fans,[15][16] Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios,[17] and James Baldwin's historic home in southern France.[18] Her Baldwin essay was included in 2016 Baldwin-inspired collection The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race; in the New York Times, Dwight Garner described Ghansah's contribution as "alive with purpose, conviction, and intellect" and one of the "five excellent reasons to buy this book."[19] KQED called Ghansah "one of the most brilliant essayists writing in America today."[20] In an Elle UK feature, "Zadie Smith On The Young Writer Who Teaches Her Everything," novelist Smith said Ghansah "always understood that to make your writing stand out online you...just need to write better than everyone else. And she does."[1]

Selected Works

References

  1. 1 2 "Zadie Smith On The Young Writer Who Teaches Her Everything". ELLE UK. 12 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "The New York Times Magazine - Masthead". Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  3. ↑ Hartman, Liz (March 25, 2016). "London Briefcase 2016: What U.S. Agencies Will be Selling at the London Book Fair". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Publishers Marketplace Newsletters - Publishers Lunch Deluxe". FreshPickedDeals.
  5. ↑ "National Magazine Awards 2014 Finalists Announced | ASME". www.magazine.org.
  6. ↑ Handler, Daniel; Gumbiner, Daniel; Snicket, Lemony; Schultz, Matthew; Keane, Dan; Rich, Nathaniel; Maner, Karen; El Rashidi, Yasmine; Dickman, Matthew (2014-01-01). The best American nonrequired reading 2014. ISBN 9780544129665.
  7. ↑ Hughes, Evan (4 December 2014). "New Collections From The New Republic, The Baffler and Others". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Karaslamb (2016). "Zadie Smith Cosigns Rich Nichols’ Protege Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah". OkayPlayer. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  9. ↑ Rasheed, Kameelah Janan. "Stakes Is High—and Black Lives Are Worthy of Elaboration". Gawker.
  10. ↑ "2014 A Good Year for Writing Faculty, Alumni, Students". arts.columbia.edu.
  11. ↑ "Annotation Tuesday! Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah and 'If He Hollers Let Him Go'". nieman.harvard.edu.
  12. ↑ Allen, Mike (February 9, 2016). "D.C.’S DOUBLE HEADER: 100TH New Hampshire primary, and Budget Day! – FIRST WINS for Trump and Sanders, or shock upsets? – MARCO ROBOTO strikes AGAIN -- SHAUN DONOVAN: Obama determined ‘to run through the tape". Politico. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ McFadden, Syreeta (December 31, 2015). "Black memoir in 2015: the year America broadened its canon". The Guardian. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ Sturgeon, Jonathan (April 16, 2015). "Toni Morrison Is Not Your Grandmother: On the Explosive, Alienating ‘God Help the Child’". Flavorwire. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ Demby, Gene (April 25, 2016). "Before Diving Into The Raging Flood Of New Beyoncé Thinkpieces, Read This". NPR. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  16. ↑ RJ, Doctor (April 25, 2016). "Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' is both personal and political". Daily Kos. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  17. ↑ McKnight, Matthew (January 17, 2015). "Weekend Reading: Marriage and Mental Illness, Electric Lady, and More". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  18. ↑ Nechvatal, Joseph (March 23, 2016). "James Baldwin’s Longtime Home in Southern France Faces Demolition". Hyperallergic. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  19. ↑ Garner, Dwight (2016-08-16). "Review: ‘The Fire This Time,’ Stoked by Baldwin’s Legacy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  20. ↑ Clark, Leilani (March 20, 2016). "Earthquakes, Bombs, and Baldwin: Lit Picks for March 22 – April 3". KQED. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  21. ↑ "He Shall Overcome: Jay-Z Is $450 M Beyond the Marcy Projects. Where Does He Go From Here?". Observer. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  22. ↑ "The Believer - If He Hollers Let Him Go - by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah". 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  23. ↑ "When the Lights Shut Off: Kendrick Lamar and the Decline of the Black Blues Narrative - Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books.
  24. ↑ "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You: The BeyHive". NPR.org.
  25. ↑ Ghansah, Rachel Kaadzi (2016-02-09). "Chirlane McCray and the Limits of First-Ladyship". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  26. ↑ "The Believer - A River Runs Through It". The Believer. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  27. ↑ Ghansah, Rachel Kaadzi (8 April 2015). "The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ "The Weight Of James Arthur Baldwin". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
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