Junot Díaz
the 31st of December 1968 marked the birth of Junot Díaz in Santo Domingo. His family moved to Parlin, New Jersey six years later. He lived less than a mile from one of the largest landfills in New Jersey. The young boy walked four miles daily to borrow books from his public library. English acquisition felt like an impossible task for him while his siblings learned it overnight. Special education classes became necessary to help him bridge the language gap. His father worked in the United States during most of Díaz's early childhood. Reunion with his father occurred only after the family migration in December 1974.
Rutgers University-New Brunswick provided the setting where Díaz earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992. He created the character Yunior as part of his Master of Fine Arts application materials in the early 1990s. This quasi-autobiographical narrator would appear across multiple books including Drown and This Is How You Lose Her. Díaz planned to write six or seven books about Yunior that would form one big novel. He delivered pool tables and washed dishes to pay for college expenses. The character emerged from his time at Demarest Hall, a creative-writing residence hall. His first book, the short story collection Drown, arrived in 1996 after he completed his MFA at Cornell University.
September 2007 saw the publication of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani described the writing style as streetwise Spanglish accessible even to monolingual readers. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. Critics named it the best novel of 2007 by both Time and New York Magazine. Miramax acquired film rights to the work just months after its release. Díaz received a MacArthur Fellowship worth $500,000 in 2012. The book earned the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Stanford University dedicated a symposium to him in 2012 with leading Latino studies scholars.
This Is How You Lose Her appeared in September 2012 as a finalist for the National Book Award. Reviewers called the stories hilarious yet devastating, capturing the heat of new passion and the recklessness of betrayal. One reviewer noted how the tales remind us that love has a half-life of forever. Díaz published Islandborn on the 13th of March 2018, his first children's book about an Afro-Latina girl named Lola. Two short stories titled The Ghosts of Gloria Lara and The Books of Losing You appeared in The New Yorker during 2023 and 2024 respectively. He abandoned work on a science fiction epic called Monstro by June 2015.
the 20th of November 1999 brought an op-ed piece co-authored with Edwidge Danticat to The New York Times condemning Dominican government deportation policies. The Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New York labeled Díaz anti-Dominican and revoked his Order of Merit award from 2009. He became honorary chairman of the DREAM Project, a non-profit education program in the Dominican Republic. Díaz sat on the Pulitzer Prize board starting the 22nd of May 2010 as the first person of Latin background to hold such a position. His activism included membership in organizations like Pro-Libertad and the Communist Dominican Workers Party.
May 2018 marked when author Zinzi Clemmons publicly confronted Díaz about forcibly cornering and kissing her. Writers Carmen Maria Machado and Monica Byrne shared their own accounts of belittling behavior on Twitter. MIT announced its investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing while Boston Review editors decided to keep him on staff. The Pulitzer Board later determined the alleged forcible kiss was actually a kiss on the cheek. Díaz voluntarily resigned as chair of the Pulitzer Prize board before returning after a five-month review by an independent law firm. He denied having inappropriately kissed Clemmons despite taking responsibility for his past actions.
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Common questions
When and where was Junot Díaz born?
Junot Díaz was born on the 31st of December 1968 in Santo Domingo. His family moved to Parlin, New Jersey six years later.
What books did Junot Díaz write about the character Yunior?
Junot Díaz created the character Yunior as part of his Master of Fine Arts application materials in the early 1990s. This narrator appears across multiple books including Drown and This Is How You Lose Her.
Which award did Junot Díaz win for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in 2008?
The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. Critics named it the best novel of 2007 by both Time and New York Magazine.
Why did the Dominican Republic revoke Junot Díaz's Order of Merit award from 2009?
The Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New York labeled Díaz anti-Dominican after he co-authored an op-ed piece with Edwidge Danticat to The New York Times condemning deportation policies on the 20th of November 1999.
Who confronted Junot Díaz about inappropriate behavior in May 2018?
Author Zinzi Clemmons publicly confronted Díaz about forcibly cornering and kissing her. Writers Carmen Maria Machado and Monica Byrne shared their own accounts of belittling behavior on Twitter.