Aaliyah Bilal | |
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Education | Oberlin College (BA) University of London (MA) |
Notable work | Temple Folk |
Awards | Whiting Award Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence |
Aaliyah Bilal is an American writer. She is best known for her debut collection of short stories, Temple Folk,[1] which tells of the lives of Black Muslims living in America in the 1970s, including their participation and interaction with The Nation of Islam. The book was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction[2] and the 2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize.[3] She also received the 2024 Whiting Award.[4] In May 2024, it was announced the book received the 17th annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.[5]
Bilal grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. to a middle class Sunni Muslim family.[6] She attended Oberlin College where she earned degrees in African American studies and Spanish, and the University of London where she earned a master's degree.[7] Bilal has cited Toni Morrison, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Edward P. Jones as literary influences. Her previous writing has also appeared in the Chicago Quarterly Review and The Rumpus.[8]