Ta-Nehisi Coates
Alumni
National Book Award-Winning Novelist, Essayist, & Journalist
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Affiliation
Alumni
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Hometown
Baltimore, Maryland
Quote
My only Mecca was, is, and shall always be Howard University.Biography
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning novelist, essayist and journalist. Coates was born and raised among six siblings in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother was a teacher, while his father is the founder of Black Classic Press, a publishing company specializing in books by Black writers. Coates studied journalism at Howard University for five years, then went on to work as a reporter. His writing gained national attention in 2008 with the publication of his first piece for The Atlantic; in that same year, Coates published his first book, The Beautiful Struggle. In 2015, Coates’ second book, the memoir Between the World and Me, launched his work to best-seller status. Since then, Coates has published myriad articles, memoirs, and essays, as well as a bestselling novel. He is currently a writer in residence at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.