Dolen Perkins-Valdez Associate Professor Literature

Degrees: BA, Harvard College
PhD, George Washington University
Bio: Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of Wench, Balm, Take MyHand, and, most recently, Happy Land. Take My Hand was awarded the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Fiction and the 2023 BCALA Award for Fiction. It was longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award; the American Bar Association awarded the novel its Silver Gavel Award which recognizes “an outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system.” Dolen’s novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In 2017, HarperCollins released Wench as one of eight “Olive Titles,” limited edition modern classics that included works by Edward P. Jones, Zora Neale Hurston, and Louise Erdrich. Dolen is considered a pre-eminent chronicler of American historical life and has written introductions to special editions of George Orwell’s 1984, Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave, and Elizabeth Keckly’s Behind the Scenes. She is a three-time nominee for a United States Artists Fellowship and is currently Associate Professor in the Creative Writing program at American University.

See Also: AU Creative Writing Program; Wench: A Novel
For the Media: To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request. Explore all AU Faculty Experts in our media guide.

Faculty Profile: Dolen Perkins-Valdez