Tina McElroy Ansa
Encyclopedia
Tina McElroy Ansa is an African American
novelist, filmmaker, teacher
, and journalist
. Born Tina McElroy to Walter J. and Nellie McElroy in Macon, Georgia
, where she grew up in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood. After graduating from Spelman College
and working for several years in a variety of positions at the Atlanta Constitution, she has written several novels and has been a frequent contributor to numerous periodicals, including the Los Angeles Times
, Newsday
, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has also been featured on the television segment "Postcards from Georgia" on CBS News Sunday Morning
. She instructs writing workshops at Spelman College
, Emory University
, and Coastal Georgia Community College
. She lives with her filmmaker husband Jonée Ansa on St. Simons Island, Georgia where they collaborate on making movies and are active in community events to promote the arts.
Ansa's fiction
portrays a variety of Black women in the recent and modern American South, with a blend of the supernatural
and traditional superstition
. Her first novel, Baby of the Family, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Baby of the Family was also on the African-America Best-seller List for Paperback Fiction. In October 2001, Baby of the Family was chosen by the Georgia Center for the Book as one of the “Top 25 books Every Georgian Should Read.” The book was also awarded The American Library Association
Best Book for Young Adults in 1990, and won the 1989 Georgia Authors Series Award.
She and her husband are currently adapting Baby of the Family for the screen in a feature film starring Alfre Woodard
, Loretta Devine
, Sheryl Lee Ralph
, Vanessa A. Williams
, Todd Bridges
, Pam Grier
.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
novelist, filmmaker, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. Born Tina McElroy to Walter J. and Nellie McElroy in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, where she grew up in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood. After graduating from Spelman College
Spelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
and working for several years in a variety of positions at the Atlanta Constitution, she has written several novels and has been a frequent contributor to numerous periodicals, including the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has also been featured on the television segment "Postcards from Georgia" on CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
. She instructs writing workshops at Spelman College
Spelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
, Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, and Coastal Georgia Community College
Coastal Georgia Community College
The College of Coastal Georgia is a public college located in historic downtown Brunswick, Georgia, United States. The College was established in 1961 and opened in 1964, making it one of Georgia's newest state colleges...
. She lives with her filmmaker husband Jonée Ansa on St. Simons Island, Georgia where they collaborate on making movies and are active in community events to promote the arts.
Ansa's fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
portrays a variety of Black women in the recent and modern American South, with a blend of the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
and traditional superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
. Her first novel, Baby of the Family, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Baby of the Family was also on the African-America Best-seller List for Paperback Fiction. In October 2001, Baby of the Family was chosen by the Georgia Center for the Book as one of the “Top 25 books Every Georgian Should Read.” The book was also awarded The American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
Best Book for Young Adults in 1990, and won the 1989 Georgia Authors Series Award.
She and her husband are currently adapting Baby of the Family for the screen in a feature film starring Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
, Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
, Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph is an American actress, singer, and activist.-Personal life:Raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York, Sheryl Lee Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to an African American father and a Jamaican mother. Sheryl attended Uniondale High School in Uniondale, NY...
, Vanessa A. Williams
Vanessa A. Williams
Vanessa A. Williams is an American actress who has appeared in several television series such as Melrose Place and the Showtime cable television series Soul Food. In 1996, she was featured in the television series Murder One...
, Todd Bridges
Todd Bridges
Todd Anthony Bridges is an American actor. He is best known for his childhood role as Willis Jackson on the NBC/ABC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and for his recurring role as Monk on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris...
, Pam Grier
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
.