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Imbolo Mbue

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Imbolo Mbue
Born1981 (age 42–43)
Limbe, Cameroon
OccupationNovelist, short story writer
EducationRutgers University
Columbia University
Notable worksBehold the Dreamers (2016)
Notable awardsPEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction;
Blue Metropolis Words to Change Award
Website
imbolombue.com

Imbolo Mbue (born 1981) is a Cameroonian American novelist and short story writer based in New York City.[1] She is known for her debut novel Behold the Dreamers (2016), which garnered her the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Blue Metropolis Words to Change Award.[2] Her works draw from her own experiences as an immigrant, as well as the experiences of other immigrants.

Early life and education

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Mbue was born in 1981 in Limbé, Cameroon, in the English-speaking region of the country, where she was raised until the family sponsored her higher education studies in the United States.[3]

After completing her undergraduate and graduate studies, she began a job in marketing for a media company, which she lost during the recession. During this period of time, Mbue observed the difference in classes while walking through New York City, where she observed cab drivers who were predominantly black, waiting to drive executives. This formed the basis of her novel Behold the Dreamers (2016).[4]

Mbue's writing, particularly Behold the Dreamers, seeks to explore topics regarding the complexity of American immigration policies and achievements, and overall, the pursuance of the American Dream. According to Mbue, the novel connects the characters' experiences and feelings with those of her own: financial struggles, hopelessness, reevaluation of one's goals, and struggles as an immigrant. She has stressed the importance of literature providing empathy, which she feels is lacked in immigration policies and overall politics.[5] Mbue's 2021 novel How Beautiful We Were takes on the environmental crisis in Africa, caused by corporate greed.[6]

Mbue became an American citizen in 2014,[7] and currently lives in New York City with her husband and children.[5]

Career and Behold the Dreamers

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Mbue came to the United States in 1998 to study business management as an undergraduate student at Rutgers University. After graduating in 2002, she went on to complete her M.A. from Columbia University, in 2006.[8] She began to work in the corporate sector in New York City, but lost her job as did millions of Americans during the Great Recession.[9]

In 2014, she signed a million-dollar deal with Random House for her debut book Behold the Dreamers,[10] which was published in 2016. The novel garnered critical acclaim for, according to NPR, the way it "depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American."[11]

According to the Washington Post's Ron Charles, as the book's release coincided with the 2016 presidential election, paired with the "anti-immigrant" rhetoric that was brought to light by candidates and their supporters, the novel brought to light the "vast bureaucracy designed to wall off the American Dream from outsiders".[12] In 2017, the novel was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club.[13]

Mbue is a contributor to the anthology New Daughters of Africa (edited by Margaret Busby, 2019).[14]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Behold the Dreamers, 2016, ISBN 978-0-8129-9848-1
  • How Beautiful We Were, 2021, ISBN 978-0-5931-3242-5
    • Puissions-nous vivre longtemps (French translation by Catherine Gilbert), Éditions Belfond, 2021
    • Wie schön wir waren (German translation), 2021, ISBN 978-3-462-00484-7

Short stories

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Year Title First published Reprinted/collected Notes
2021 "The case for and against love potions" "The case for and against love potions". The New Yorker. 97 (5): 54–61. March 22, 2021.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Imbolo Mbue official website. "About". Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Announcing the 2017 PEN/Faulkner Award Winner". PEN/Faulkner Foundation. 2017. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  3. ^ "Oprah Talks to Behold the Dreamers Author Imbolo Mbue". Oprah.com. June 26, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  4. ^ Cantor, Carla (May 22, 2017). "Rutgers Alumna Wins PEN/Faulkner Fiction Award for Behold the Dreamers". Rutgers Today. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Mzezewa, Tariro (July 19, 2017). "Imbolo Mbue on the Importance of Empathy in Life and Literature". Vogue.
  6. ^ Montari, Phoeby (March 18, 2021). "10 Must-Read Novels By Brilliant Black Female Authors Of Our Century". Featured Black. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  7. ^ Mbue, Imbolo (October 20, 2016). "How to Vote as an Immigrant and a Citizen". The New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  8. ^ "TC Alumna Imbolo Mbue Wins PEN/Faulkner Fiction Award". Teachers College Columbia University. May 22, 2017.
  9. ^ McGillis, Ian (April 28, 2017). "Blue Metropolis star Imbolo Mbue retells, and lives, the American dream". Montreal Gazette.
  10. ^ Deahl, Rachel (October 6, 2014). "Frankfurt Book Fair 2014: Two Debuts Draw Seven Figures". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Schaub, Michael (August 24, 2016). "Newly American 'Dreamers' Are Torn Between Love And Disappointment". NPR.org. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  12. ^ Charles, Ron (August 17, 2016). "'Behold the Dreamers': The one novel Donald Trump should read now". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ Schaub, Michael (26 June 2017), "Oprah Winfrey selects Imbolo Mbue's 'Behold the Dreamers' for her book club", Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ Obi-Young, Otosirieze (10 January 2018), "Margaret Busby-Edited Anthology to Feature 200 Female Writers Including Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Bernadine Evaristo, Imbolo Mbue, Warsan Shire, Zadie Smith", Brittle Paper.
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