Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quick Facts

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Sep. 26, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates
Born	September 30, 1975 (age 51) • Baltimore • Maryland
Awards And Honors	National Book Award (2015)
Notable Works	“Between the World and Me” • “The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood” • “The Message” • “The Water Dancer” • “We Were Eight Years in Power”

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Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward

American author

Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolfe

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Hazzard, Shirley

Shirley Hazzard

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Alice Walker smiling and wearing glasses, a beaded necklace, and a burgundy velvet top at the opening of The Color Purple in New York City.

Alice Walker

American writer

Ibram X. Kendi in 2020, wearing a patterned white shirt and purple jacket, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.

Ibram X. Kendi

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain

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Edmund White

Edmund White

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Renata Adler

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Mary Gordon

Mary Gordon

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Harold Brodkey

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John Rechy

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Jimmy Breslin

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Joan Didion, 1970

Joan Didion

American author

Joyce Carol Oates, 2012

Joyce Carol Oates

American author

Colson Whitehead wearing a teal jacket and patterned shirt, standing in front of a gray backdrop at an event in 2021.

Colson Whitehead

American author

Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow

American author

David Foster Wallace, 2006

David Foster Wallace

American author

Tim O'Brien

Tim O’Brien

American author

John Updike

John Updike

American author

Annie Proulx seated on a red leather sofa, wearing glasses, a black jacket, and a white shirt, looking toward the camera.

Annie Proulx

American author