Laurie Jean

Profile

The Root online magazine listed Laurie Jean’s memoir Crave: Sojourn of a Hungry Soul as one of the best nonfiction books by Black authors in 2015. Kirkus Reviews described Crave as a “bold, honest, and courageous memoir.” Foreword Reviews listed Crave as an Indiefab Book of the Year 2015 finalist in the autobiography/memoir category. Additionally, Crave was named a finalist for the Library of Virginia People’s Choice Award for Nonfiction.

Laurie Jean has published personal essays on poverty, domestic violence, and military sexual trauma in a number of publications, including The Rumpus, Good Housekeeping, and Ink and Letters. She has presented talks, lectures, and workshops at numerous organizations, including the KGB Literary Bar, Girls Write Now, The Women’s Initiative, and West Point Military Academy. Laurie Jean is the Mellon Foundation Endowed Chair of English and Foreign Languages at Hampton University and a member of the creative writing faculty in the Wilkes University MA/MFA low-residency Creative Writing Program. Her most recent memoir, Other Than Honorable: A Soldier’s Struggle Through Military Sexual Trauma, will be published by Etruscan Press in 2022. lauriejeancannady.net