Gloria Naylor was born January 25, 1950, in New York, N.Y. She received a B.A. in 1981 from Brooklyn College, and an M.A. in 1983 from Yale. She won an American Book Award for best first novel in 1983 for The Women of Brewster Place. Naylor was a missionary for Jehovah's Witnesses in New York, North Carolina, and Florida from 1968-75. She has held a variety of writing and teaching positions in academia. Her other works of fiction include: Linden Hills, 1985; Mama Day, 1988; Bailey's Cafe, 1992; and The Men of Brewster Place, 1998.

Brooklyn College

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Yale University

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United States Information Agency

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