“A modern love story that is real and raw in its humor and tragedy. Their relationship is full of the drama, the passion and the. Upstate is creative, raw, and honest.” -Darnella Ford, author of Rising and Crave Antonio has been seeing Natasha for a while now.

Kalisha Buckhanon’s latest novel Running to Fall makes history as the first book published by, the nation’s oldest and largest website dedicated to black books. “Kalisha Buckhanon has unleashed brilliance in this debut novel. Kalisha Buckhanon is a writer, speaker and commentator creating stories and media about African-Americans, women, love and justice. “A gripping debut.I was thoroughly impressed.” -Mary Monroe, author of God Still Don't Like Ugly “ Upstate is intimate, wrenching.a story about love, surviving love, and the forgiveness that only love brings.” -Achy Obejas, author of Memory Mambo and Days of Awe Lynn Harris, author of What Becomes of the Brokenhearted “Wild and beautiful.The story is told using the epistolary form with brilliant skill not seen since The Color Purple.” -Sapphire, author of Push “Heartbreaking and true.I'd read it again just for the power of the language.” -Dorothy Allison, National Book Award Finalist and author of Bastard Out of Carolina

She studied as a humanities doctoral student at the University of Chicago, and obtained her Master of Arts in English from the program.“A realistic love story that's set against an urban backdrop as gritty as its characters are memorable.” - People magazine Buckhanon received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago, and a Masters of Fine Arts (M.F.A) in Creative Writing from New School University. She found author Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye at Kankakee Public Library and became empowered to write from a Black female perspective. She has remarked she grew up in a time when Black American teenagers were besieged with stereotypes as 'crack babies', 'welfare moms' and 'gangbangers', and she saw her life experiences and voice as ways to 'correct misconceptions of Black life for generations to come'. Martins, 19.95 (247pp) ISBN 978-8-6 Like any good love story, this ones riddled with conflict from the get-go. Kalisha Buckhanon Kalisha Buckhanon’s novel, Speaking of Summer, is praised by today’s finest writers such as Jesmyn Ward, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Colin Channer, Connie Briscoe, Sapphire, Bernice McFadden, Tayari Jones and Dr. She was high school Class President and a community activist as a commitment her parents raised her with. Upstate masterfully takes as its subject a lost world. Buckhanon began writing as a young woman. She was born when her parents, Kerry and Juwana Buckhanon, were teenagers. She is a 2006 recipient of the Alex Awards.īorn in Kankakee, Illinois, Buckhanon comes from a large middle-class Christian family. She was educated at the University of Chicago and New School University. Kalisha Buckhanon (born April 1, 1977) is an American author who writes frequently on literature, race and Black women's themes.

Upstate by kalisha buckhanon