The character arc of Yaa Gyasi
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in 1989 in Mampong, Ghana. Between then and now sit an American upbringing, an English degree at Stanford, a master of fine arts at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Homegoing in 2016, four major prizes in 2016 and 2017, Transcendent Kingdom in 2020, a Women's Prize shortlist in 2021, a Royal Society of Literature appointment in 2023 and a New York Public Library fellowship from 2026. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Yaa Gyasi?
Four prizes before thirty.
She was born in Mampong in Ghana in 1989 and raised in the United States. She read English at Stanford University and took a master of fine arts at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, which is the most competitive writing programme in the country.
Homegoing was published in 2016, when she was twenty seven. It follows two half sisters born in eighteenth century Ghana and then their descendants across seven generations and two continents, one line in Africa and one in America. Taking on three hundred years of history in a first novel is not what anybody advises a young writer to do.
It won the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book and the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award in 2016, then an American Book Award and the PEN Hemingway Award in 2017, and she was named among Granta's best of young American novelists in the same year. Transcendent Kingdom, a much quieter book about a neuroscience doctoral student, came in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021. She received a Vilcek Prize and a Carnegie Great Immigrants Award in 2020, was named a Royal Society of Literature International Writer in 2023, and holds a fellowship at the New York Public Library for 2026 and 2027.
The moments
Yaa Gyasi's timeline.
The 2010s
English at Stanford
Milestone, and it changed her direction. An English degree, and a Ghanaian childhood behind it.
The Iowa Writers' Workshop
Milestone, and it changed everything. The most competitive writing programme in the country.
Homegoing
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two half sisters, seven generations and two continents, attempted in a first novel at twenty seven.
Two awards at once
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two American awards in the year the book came out.
Two more the next year
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four major prizes in two years, for a first novel.
Repeat the sweep, or go small
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: write a quiet book, taken, or write another epic. Transcendent Kingdom was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021.
The 2020s
Two more honours
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two awards in one year, both about arriving from somewhere else.
Transcendent Kingdom
Milestone, and it changed everything. A much quieter book about a doctoral student, which is a brave thing to follow Homegoing with.
The Women's Prize shortlist
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A shortlist for the quieter book, which is the harder kind to get noticed.
The Royal Society of Literature
Milestone. A British appointment, for a Ghanaian American novelist.
A library fellowship
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A year in a library, which is where a third book probably comes from.
Her line is still being written, and the four prizes came before she was thirty. What it has set moving is a history a great many readers had only ever met as a paragraph, written by somebody who was in her twenties when she decided to attempt it.
What she wrote
Books by Yaa Gyasi
- 2016
Homegoing
Two half sisters born in eighteenth century Ghana, and seven generations of their descendants across two continents.
- 2020
Transcendent Kingdom
A neuroscience doctoral student, faith and family. A far quieter book, and a brave one to follow the first with.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers took on three hundred years of history in a first novel at twenty seven. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Yaa Gyasi: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
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What is Yaa Gyasi doing now?
Where does this timeline of Yaa Gyasi's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Yaa Gyasi, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- National Book Critics Circle, John Leonard Award, 2016.
- Publisher records for Homegoing and Transcendent Kingdom.