Prairie View A&M University’s Toni Morrison Writing Program recently announced novelist, screenwriter, and TV producer Attica Locke as its 2023-2024 Writer-In-Residence.
A New York Times-bestselling author of five novels, Locke was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for her debut novel, Black Water Rising (2009). Her second book, The Cutting Season (2012), was a winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and her third, Pleasantville (2015), was the winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.
A native of Houston who attended Alief Hastings High School, Locke began writing a series of thrillers set along Highway 59 with her novel, Bluebird, Bluebird (2017)—followed by Heaven, My Home (2019)—which she described in Texas Monthly as “a love letter to black Texans and a thank you to the ones who raised me.”
“Having Attica Locke as our 2023-2024 Toni Morrison Writing Program Writer-in-Residence is a winner for our students,” said Dr. Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith, PVAMU Provost Emerita and Director of the Toni Morrison Writing Program, in a statement.
“She is a storyteller’s storyteller and so well versed in each aspect of writing. I am especially impressed with her adaptation of fiction for television and film production,” said Thomas-Smith.
Locke’s television career includes writing and producing the Netflix miniseries, When They See Us, directed by Ava Duvernay; Hulu’s limited series, Little Fires Everywhere; and the Fox drama Empire. Most recently, she developed and was the showrunner for the Netflix limited series From Scratch, starring Zoe Saldana and based on her sister Tembi Locke’s memoir.
According to organizers, Locke’s residency will include masterclasses with students, as well as public lectures in November 2023 and February 2024. In addition, she will visit local area middle and high schools to engage students in developing their storytelling skills.
The Toni Morrison Writing Program was established in March 2021 with a gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a former student of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison. Scott donated $50 million to the University in October 2020, with $3 million of her gift to endow the program. The writing program also partners with the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice.
Previous writers-in-residence have included Nikki Giovanni and Kevin Powell.
Houston Arts Journal 