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Christina Sharpe

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Christina Elizabeth Sharpe
Born1965 (age 60–61)[1]
Pennsylvania, United States
OccupationProfessor
Academic background
Education
Academic work
Notable works
Monstrous Intimacies (2010);
In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (2016);
Ordinary Notes (2023)

Christina Elizabeth Sharpe (born 1965) is an American academic who is a professor of English literature and Black studies at York University in Toronto.[2][3][4][5] Christina Sharpe is Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Humanities at York University, and in 2024 she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship.[6]

Early life and education

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Sharpe was born in Pennsylvania.[7] Raised Catholic, Sharpe attended various parochial, private, and public schools as a child.[8]

She received a bachelor's degree in English and Africana studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987, having studied abroad at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.[9][10] She completed a master's degree and a doctorate at Cornell University; her dissertation was on African writer Bessie Head.[9]

Career

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Sharpe's work spans Black visual studies, Black queer studies, and mid-nineteenth century to contemporary African-American literature and culture.[11]

Her research has also extended into Black visual studies through the critical analysis of Blackness in visual media. Her work makes a point that such visual representations can either further or resist colonial and racial narratives, looking at how Black artists engage with and sometimes fight against these narratives.[12]

Books

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She is the author of In the Wake: On Blackness and Being,[13] Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects,[14] and Ordinary Notes.[12] She wrote a critical introduction to Nomenclature: New and Collected Poems of Dionne Brand.[15]

Sharpe is best known for the influential concept of "wake work" that she details in her book In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, which was published in 2016.[13][16][17][18] In the book, she probes into the legacies of the Atlantic slave trade on the lives of Black people and how that manifests in their contemporary social, cultural, and political lives. "Wake work" calls for insurgent engagement with the ways that Black life and death are figured by anti-Blackness, into practices of survival, remembrance, and resistance in African culture.[19] In the Wake garnered acclaim for its blend of personal narrative with a combination of historical and theoretical analysis.[20] It was named a best book of 2016 by The Guardian and The Walrus.[21][22]

Her previous book was Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects, published in 2010. The book explores ways in which narration, relation, and representation come together to create Black subjects and identities in a post-chattel slavery era. Throughout the book, Sharpe investigates how the legacies of chattel slavery, colonialism, and racial violence continue to be present in Black communities and uses critical race theory, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies to analyze these times.[23]

Ordinary Notes (2023) gathered a range of responses. Kirkus Reviews described it as "an exquisitely original celebration of American Blackness," highlighting Sharpe's integration of diverse forms and topics.[24] Similarly, The New York Times noted how Sharpe's collection of notes serves as a radical reading of Black life, presenting an alternative to popular misconceptions.[25] However, some critics have pointed out challenges related to the book's fragmented format. The Chicago Review of Books mentioned that while the versatile form supports the ambitious range of subjects, the kaleidoscopic structure might make it difficult for readers looking for a traditional narrative arc.[26] Ordinary Notes was named a best book of the year by The New York Times,[27] The Atlantic,[28] The New Yorker,[29] The Globe and Mail,[30] The Toronto Star,[31] and NPR.[32]

Teaching and research

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Sharpe was employed at Hobart and William Smith Colleges from 1996 to 1998.[9] From 1998 until 2018, she held positions at Tufts University.[33][34] Awarded tenure in 2005, Sharpe became a full professor in 2017.[9] She was the first Black woman to be awarded tenure in the English department at Tufts.[5]

Sharpe is a senior research associate at the Centre for the Study of Race, Gender & Class (RGC) at the University of Johannesburg. She is a professor and research chair in Black Studies in the Department of Humanities at York University.[3] She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2024 and a fellowship from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in 2026.[35][36]

Awards

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Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref.
2017 In the Wake Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Nonfiction Finalist [13]
2023 Ordinary Notes Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction Winner [37]
National Book Award Nonfiction Finalist [38]
National Book Critics Circle Awards Nonfiction [39]
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Current Interest [40]
2024 James Tait Black Memorial Prize Biography [41]
Windham–Campbell Literature Prizes Nonfiction Winner [42]
Molson Prize Social Sciences and Humanities [43]
Guggenheim Fellowship [35]
2025 Killam Prize Humanities [44]

Bibliography

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  • Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects. Duke University Press, 2010.[14]
  • In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. Duke University Press, 2016.[45]
  • Ordinary Notes. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.[46]

References

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  1. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (April 26, 2023). "The Woman Shaping a Generation of Black Thought". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Scope & Content Note: Christina Sharpe papers (Ms.2018.015) at Brown University Library". Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Christina Sharpe". York University Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth". Library of Congress Authorities. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Wortham, Jenna (April 26, 2023). "The Woman Shaping a Generation of Black Thought". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Professor Christina Sharpe named 2024 Guggenheim Fellow". YFile. April 17, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  7. ↑ Hocker, Scott (April 11, 2024). "Christina Sharpe, the influential author and intellectual who sees America as it is". The Week. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ Messer, Miwa (April 29, 2023). "Poured Over Double Shot: Ava Chin and Christina Sharpe". B&N Reads. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Biographical/Historical Note: Christina Sharpe papers (Ms.2018.015) at Brown University Library". Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  10. ↑ Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth (1999). The work of re-membering: reading Gertrude Stein, Gayl Jones, Julie Dash, Cherríe Moraga, and Bessie Head (PhD thesis). Cornell University.
  11. ↑ "Christina Sharpe - Faculty of Community Services". Ryerson University. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Naimon, David (May 1, 2023). "Christina Sharpe : Ordinary Notes". Milkweed Editions. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 "In the Wake". Duke University Press. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  14. 1 2 "Monstrous Intimacies". Duke University Press. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Nomenclature". Duke University Press. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  16. ↑ Khanmalek, Tala (July 18, 2018). "In the Wake: On Blackness and Being". Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies. 18: 55–57. doi:10.17077/2168-569X.1513. ISSN 2168-569X.
  17. ↑ Gabriel, Jamillah (January 27, 2023). "Archiving Blackness: Reimagining and Recreating the Archive(s) as Literary and Information Wake Work". Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. 10 (1). ISSN 2380-8845.
  18. ↑ Geter, Hafizah Augustus (February 23, 2023). "Everything Comes Back to Christina Sharpe's In The Wake". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ Huggins, Kathryn A. (May 2018). Beyond Mourning: Afro-Pessimism In Contemporary African American Fiction (MA thesis). Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
  20. ↑ Schulman, Sarah (October 12, 2016). "'In The Wake: On Blackness and Being' by Christina Sharpe". Lambda Literary Review. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  21. ↑ Thien, Madeleine (November 26, 2016). "Best books of 2016 – part one". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  22. ↑ Martineau, Jarrett (December 15, 2016). "The Best Books of 2016". The Walrus. Archived from the original on December 16, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  23. ↑ Feng, Rhoda (December 8, 2023). "The Work of Black Life: A Conversation With Christina Sharpe". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  24. ↑ "ORDINARY NOTES". Kirkus Reviews. January 18, 2023.
  25. ↑ Szalai, Jennifer (April 19, 2023). "In 'Ordinary Notes', a radical reading of black life". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  26. ↑ Jimenez, Megin (May 5, 2023). "Seeing Through the Kaleidoscope of 'Ordinary Notes'". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  27. ↑ "100 Notable Books of 2023". The New York Times. November 21, 2023. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  28. ↑ "The Atlantic 10: The Best Books of 2023". The Atlantic. December 5, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  29. ↑ "The Best Books of 2023". The New Yorker. January 25, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  30. ↑ "The Globe 100: The best books of 2023". The Globe and Mail. December 8, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  31. ↑ Dundas, Deborah (December 21, 2023). "The best books of 2023: Our critics pick their favourite eight". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Books We Love". NPR. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Christina Sharpe". The Conversation. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  34. ↑ Kansara, Anar (May 21, 2018). "Six professors of humanities, social sciences to leave Tufts this year". The Tufts Daily. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  35. 1 2 "Christina Sharpe". Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  36. ↑ Huls, Alex (May 1, 2026). "Trudeau Fellowship highlights Christina Sharpe's influential work in Black studies". YFile. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  37. ↑ Thompson, Nicole (November 21, 2023). "Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel". Toronto Star.
  38. ↑ Andrews, Meredith (October 3, 2023). "2023 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  39. ↑ "The National Book Critics Circle Awards". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  40. ↑ "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes - History". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Love and loss illuminates book prize shortlist". The University of Edinburgh. March 26, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Sharpe, Christina". Windham-Campbell Prizes. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Shirley Cheechoo and Christina Sharpe receive 2024 Molson prizes". Canada Council for the Arts. May 15, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  44. ↑ "Christina Sharpe - 2025 Killam Prize Winner". Killam Laureates. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  45. ↑ Geter, Hafizah Augustus (February 23, 2023). "Everything Comes Back to Christina Sharpe's In The Wake". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  46. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (April 26, 2023). "The Woman Shaping a Generation of Black Thought". The New York Times.
[edit]
  • Quotations related to Christina Sharpe at Wikiquote
  • Faculty profile at York University
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