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Jacqueline Woodson

Biography

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1963, Woodson grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York. She studied English at Adelphi University before building a literary career spanning children's books, young adult fiction, adult novels, poetry, and memoir.


Her 2014 verse memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and received multiple additional honors. Her adult novels include Another Brooklyn and Red at the Bone, while her picture books include Show Way and The Day You Begin.


Woodson served as Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017 and as the sixth National Ambassador for Young People's Literature from 2018 to 2019. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2020 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2025. She is also the founder and president of Baldwin for the Arts, which supports writers and artists through residencies, fellowships, and creative development.


BQW Impact

Woodson's writing has created sustained space for Black children, adolescents, families, and queer experiences within literature. Her work frequently examines race, family history, gender, sexuality, class, memory, and belonging while allowing Black characters to exist as complex people rather than symbols of a single social issue.


Her openness about coming out as a lesbian also provides important context for a literary career that includes queer characters and themes. In a Fresh Air interview, Woodson discussed coming out at 19 or 20 and raising children in a two-mother family. Her work as a writer, literary ambassador, and founder of Baldwin for the Arts extends that contribution into advocacy for reading, storytelling, and opportunities for other artists.


Notable Works

  • Show Way (2005)

    Picture book drawing on family history to connect generations of Black women, quilting, memory, and the history of freedom.

  • Brown Girl Dreaming (2014)

    Verse memoir recounting Woodson's childhood in South Carolina and New York and her emergence as a writer.

  • Another Brooklyn (2016)

    Adult novel exploring friendship, memory, girlhood, and growing up in 1970s Brooklyn; a National Book Award finalist.

  • The Day You Begin (2018)

    Picture book about difference, belonging, and finding connection by sharing one's story.

  • Red at the Bone (2019)

    Adult novel examining family, history, class, sexuality, identity, and parenthood across generations.

  • Remember Us (2023)

    Middle-grade novel about memory, friendship, and community during a summer of fires in Woodson's childhood Brooklyn neighborhood.

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