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Tananarive Due

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Tananarive Due
Due at the 2023 National Book Festival
Due at the 2023 National Book Festival
Born
Tananarive Priscilla Due

(1966-01-05) January 5, 1966 (age 60)
Tallahassee, Florida, United States
Occupation
  • Writer
  • educator
EducationMedill School of Journalism (BS)
University of Leeds (MA)
Genre{{Cslist|Science fiction|mystery|horror|
Literary movementAfro-Surrealism[1]
SpouseSteven Barnes
Children
Jason (son)
Website
tananarivedue.com

Tananarive Priscilla Due (/təˈnænəriːv ˈdjuː/ tə-NAN-ə-reev DEW) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel The Living Blood (2001), and the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, and the World Fantasy Award for her novel The Reformatory (2023).[2][3] She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a course at UCLA called "The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival and the Black Horror Aesthetic", which focuses on the Jordan Peele film Get Out.[4]

Early life and education

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Due was born in Tallahassee, Florida, the oldest of three daughters of civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due and civil rights lawyer John D. Due Jr.[5] Her mother named her after the French name for Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.[6]

Due earned a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and an M.A. in English literature, with a focus on Nigerian literature, from the University of Leeds.[7] At Northwestern, she lived in the Communications Residential College.[8]

Career

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Due was working as a journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald when she wrote her first novel, The Between, in 1995.[8] This, like many of her subsequent books, was part of the supernatural genre.[9]

Due also wrote The Black Rose, a historical novel about Madam C. J. Walker (based in part on research conducted by Alex Haley before his death),[10] and Freedom in the Family, a nonfiction work co-authored with Patricia Stephens Due about the civil rights movement.[11] She contributed to the humor novel Naked Came the Manatee, a mystery thriller parody to which various Miami-area authors contributed chapters.[12] Due also authored the African Immortals novel series[13] and co-authored the Tennyson Hardwick novels with Blair Underwood and Steven Barnes.[14]

Due was a member of the affiliate faculty in the creative writing MFA program at Antioch University Los Angeles[15] and an endowed Cosby chair in the humanities at Spelman College in Atlanta.[16]

She developed a course at UCLA called "The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival and the Black Horror Aesthetic" after the release of the 2017 film Get Out. The first course went viral and included a visit from Jordan Peele.[4]

Due was featured in the 2019 documentary film Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, produced by Shudder.[4]

Her novel The Reformatory was published by Saga Press in 2023.[17][18][19]

Personal life

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Due is the daughter of civil rights activists Patricia Stephens Due and civil rights attorney John D. Due Jr. She has two sisters, Johnita and Lydia.[20]

Due is married to author Steven Barnes,[21] whom she met in 1997 at a Clark Atlanta University panel on "The African-American Fantastic Imagination".[22] The couple lives in Los Angeles with their son, Jason.[23][24]

Bibliography

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Novels

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African Immortals series

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The Tennyson Hardwick novels

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  • Casanegra (with Blair Underwood and Steven Barnes, 2007)
  • In the Night of the Heat (with Blair Underwood and Steven Barnes, 2008)
  • From Cape Town with Love (with Blair Underwood and Steven Barnes, 2010)
  • South by Southeast (with Blair Underwood and Steven Barnes, 2012)

Short story collections

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  • Ghost Summer: Stories (2015)
  • The Wishing Pool and Other Stories (2023)

Graphic novels

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  • The Keeper (with Steven Barnes, illustrated by Marco Finnegan, 2022)

Other books

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Short stories

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Awards and recognition

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Year Work Award Category Result Ref.
1995 The Between Bram Stoker Award First Novel Nominated [26]
1997 My Soul to Keep Bram Stoker Award Novel Nominated [27]
2001 The Living Blood International Horror Guild Award Novel Nominated [28]
2002 American Book Award — Won [29]
2003 The Good House International Horror Guild Award Novel Nominated [28]
2009 "Ghost Summer" Carl Brandon Award Kindred Award Won [30]
In the Night of the Heat NAACP Image Award Fiction Won[a] [31]
2015 "Herd Immunity" Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award — Finalist [32]
2016 Ghost Summer: Stories British Fantasy Award Collection Won [33]
NAACP Image Award Fiction Nominated [34]
2020 N/a Ignyte Award Ember Award Finalist [35]
"Black Horror Rising" Ignyte Award Creative Nonfiction Won [35]
2021 N/a Ignyte Award Ember Award Finalist [36]
2022 N/a Ignyte Award Ember Award Won [37]
2023 Africa Risen Locus Award Anthology Won[b] [38]
"Incident at Bear Creek Lodge" Locus Award Novelette Finalist [38]
World Fantasy Award Short Fiction Won [39]
The Keeper[c] Locus Award Illustrated and Art Book Finalist [38]
NAACP Image Award Fiction Nominated [40]
The Reformatory Booklist Editors' Choice Genre Fiction Selected [41]
Bram Stoker Award Novel Won [42]
Goodreads Choice Awards Horror Nominated [43]
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Ray Bradbury Prize Won [44]
Shirley Jackson Award Novel Won [45]
"Rumpus Room" Bram Stoker Award Long Fiction Nominated [42]
2024 The Reformatory BCALA Literary Awards Fiction Honor [46]
Chautauqua Prize — Won [47]
Dragon Awards Horror Novel Nominated [48]
Locus Award Horror Novel Finalist [49]
Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award — Longlisted [50]
RUSA CODES Reading List Horror Shortlisted [51]
World Fantasy Award Novel Won [52]
"Suppertime" Locus Award Short Story Finalist [49]
The Wishing Pool and Other Stories Locus Award Collection Finalist [49]
2025 "A Stranger Knocks" Ignyte Award Novelette Finalist [53]
Locus Award Novelette Finalist [54]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ With Steven Barnes and Blair Underwood
  2. ^ The award was jointly awarded to all authors included in the anthology.
  3. ^ Co-authored with Steven Barnes; illustrated by Marco Finnegan

References

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  1. ^ Spenser, Rochelle (2021). AfroSurrealism: The African Diaspora's Surrealist Fiction. The Cultural Politics of Media and Popular Culture. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-103-208-237-0.
  2. ^ "The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards Winners". The Bram Stoker Awards. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "2023 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". The Shirley Jackson Awards. July 13, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Obie, Brooke (March 8, 2019). "What Is Black Horror? 'The Sunken Place' Professor Tananarive Due Explains". Blavity. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "Patricia Stevens Due and Tananarive Due". NPR. January 16, 2003. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  6. ^ Due, Tananarive; Due, Patricia Stephens (2009). Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. Random House. ISBN 978-0-307-52534-5.
  7. ^ "Tananarive Due". African American Literature Book Club. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  8. ^ a b Su, Jennifer (Fall 2001). "Getting Her Due". Northwestern Alumni News. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  9. ^ Mohanraj, Mary A. (2003). "Tananarive Due". In Bleiler, Richard (ed.). Supernatural fiction writers: contemporary fantasy and horror (2nd ed.). New York: Scribner. pp. 309–314. ISBN 978-0-684-31250-7.
  10. ^ Callison, Tracey A. (November 2000). "The Black Rose". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  11. ^ "Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights". Zinn Education Project. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  12. ^ "NAKED CAME THE MANATEE". Kirkus Reviews. December 15, 1996.
  13. ^ "Blood Colony by Tananarive Due". Publishers Weekly. April 28, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  14. ^ "Tennyson Hardwick Series". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  15. ^ "Tananarive Due". Antioch University Los Angeles. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016.
  16. ^ "Past - Present Chairs". Spelman College. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013.
  17. ^ Hand, Elizabeth (October 30, 2023). "Deaths at a Florida 'reform' school inspire a masterful horror novel". Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  18. ^ Iglesias, Gabino (November 2, 2023). "'The Reformatory' tells a story of ghosts, abuse, racism — and sibling love". NPR. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  19. ^ Woods, Paula L. (October 26, 2023). "Black horror is having a big moment. So is its pioneer, Tananarive Due". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  20. ^ Jenkins Field, Dorothy (June 18, 2020). "Let us remember those fathers who led civil-rights struggles in Florida". Miami Herald.
  21. ^ Dozois, Gardner, ed. (2001). The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 594. ISBN 978-0-312-27465-8.
  22. ^ Barnes, Steven (2013). "On Tananarive Due". SFbios.com. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  23. ^ "Tananarive Due | Contributors". ABRAMS. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  24. ^ "Steven Barnes". Chicon 8. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  25. ^ Foster, Eugie (July 28, 2006). "Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept. 2006". Tangent.
  26. ^ "1995 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees". Bram Stoker Awards. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  27. ^ "1997 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees". Bram Stoker Awards. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  28. ^ a b "IHG Award Recipients". International Horror Guild. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  29. ^ "Before Columbus Foundation Presents the winners of the American Book Awards 2002". American Book Awards. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  30. ^ "Carl Brandon Society Awards". Carl Brandon Society. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013.
  31. ^ N'neka Hite (February 12, 2009). "'Bees' big at NAACP Image Awards". Variety. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  32. ^ "2015 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards Winners". Locus. June 15, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  33. ^ "2016 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. September 25, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  34. ^ "2016 Image Winners". Variety. February 6, 2016. Archived from the original on February 27, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  35. ^ a b "2020 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. October 18, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  36. ^ "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus. September 18, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  37. ^ Emmet Asher-Perrin (September 17, 2022). "Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Ignyte Awards!". Tor.com. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  38. ^ a b c "2023 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 25, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  39. ^ Molly Templeton (October 30, 2023). "Announcing the 2023 World Fantasy Awards Winners". Reactor. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  40. ^ Mekishana Pierre (February 25, 2023). "2023 NAACP Image Awards: Complete Winners List". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  41. ^ "Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2023". Booklist. December 1, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  42. ^ a b "2023 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus. June 3, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  43. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Horror!". Goodreads. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  44. ^ "Los Angeles Times Announces Winners of 44th Annual Book Prizes". Los Angeles Times. April 20, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  45. ^ "2023 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners". Locus. July 13, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  46. ^ "Adult". Black Caucus American Library Association. October 14, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  47. ^ "Due Wins Chautauqua Prize". Locus. June 7, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  48. ^ "sfadb: Dragon Awards 2024". SFADB. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  49. ^ a b c "2024 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 22, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  50. ^ "Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Longlist". Library Thing. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  51. ^ "The Reading List". RUSA Update. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  52. ^ Armstrong, Vanessa (October 24, 2024). "Here Are the 2024 World Fantasy Award Winners". Reactor. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  53. ^ Molly Templeton (June 9, 2025). "Here Are the Finalists for the 2025 Ignyte Awards". Reactor. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  54. ^ "2025 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 21, 2025. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
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