Dawnie Walton
Alma materUniversity of Iowa
GenreFiction, journalism
Notable worksThe Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Notable awardsAspen Words Literary Prize 2022
Website
www.dawniewalton.com

Dawnie Walton (born 1976 or 1977)[1] is an American journalist and novelist. She is known for her novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, which won the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize,[2] the 2022 Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award,[3] and was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.[4]

Personal life

Walton grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where she attended Stanton College Prep.[1] She went to college at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, a historically Black school, and she received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[1]

She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband.[1][5]

Career

Journalism

In 1994, Walton began her career in journalism as a recent high school graduate interning for The Florida Times-Union — she wrote for the Teen Rap section of the paper that existed at the time.[1] Her journalism career continued after college at The Oregonian in Portland and The Washington Post in D.C.[1] She then moved to New York City where she worked as a magazine editor for a number of publications, including Essence, Entertainment Weekly, Getty Images, and LIFE.[1][6][5]

Writing

Walton published her debut novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, in 2021 to critical acclaim. The book covers the fictionalized oral history of a 1970s interracial rock duo.[1][6]

She was inspired to write the book after seeing the documentary called 20 Feet from Stardom about backup singers.[1] It featured Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt who were singing with Talking Heads, and Walton found herself drawn to these "two amazing Black women."[1] Thus began the inspiration for her first novel.[1]

Walton wrote this novel over seven years, for much of that time working on it before or after her day job, waking up at 5 am or staying up late.[6][7] Walton was working as the deputy managing editor at Essence in 2015 when she decided to leave her job entirely to work on the novel full-time.[7]

While working on this novel, Walton attended writing residencies at MacDowell Colony and the Tin House Summer Workshop,[5] and she received her master's degree in Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2013.[1][8]

The novel went on to win the 2022 Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award, the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, and the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize.[9][6][10] The book was named one of the best books of 2021 by The Washington Post, National Public Radio, Esquire and President Obama.[9] The audiobook version of the novel won the 2022 Audie Award for Fiction.[9]

Short story startup

After publishing her first novel, Walton co-founded a new startup with Longreads founder Mark Armstrong and author Deesha Philyaw.[11] The startup, called Ursa, aims to celebrate and promote short fiction by underrepresented authors through a website, a podcast, and publishing—including publishing audio stories.[11] Walton and Philyaw host the podcast together.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Soergel, Matt. "3 Black women from Jacksonville debut acclaimed books, become friends". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Porter (22 April 2022). "Dawnie Walton Wins the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  3. ↑ Brogan, Mary Kate. "Dawnie Walton wins the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for 'The Final Revival of Opal & Nev'". VCU News. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Five minutes with: Dawnie Walton". Women's Prize for Fiction. 22 April 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Dawnie Walton in Praise of Say Anything's Gangly, Vulnerable Male Lead". Literary Hub. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Travers, Andrew (22 April 2022). "Dawnie Walton's 'Opal and Nev' wins Aspen Words prize". aspentimes.com. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  7. 1 2 Gross, Terry (May 24, 2021). "'70s Music Journalism Gets An Overdue Rewrite In Debut Novel 'Opal & Nev'". NPR.
  8. ↑ Dukes, Will (2022-04-14). "Dawnie Walton on Her Music-Obsessed Novel and Liking Whatever the Hell She Wants". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  9. 1 2 3 "Dawnie Walton wins VCU Cabell First Novelist Award". richmondfreepress.com. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  10. ↑ "Dawnie Walton's 'Final Revival of Opal & Nev' wins Mark Twain award". MSN. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  11. 1 2 3 "The Book Pages: 'Opal & Nev' author Dawnie Walton talks Ursa, a new short story startup". Orange County Register. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
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