Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara is an award-winning author and journalist, best known for her novel A Little Life, which won the 2015 Kirkus Prize. She is also the author of The People in the Trees, which was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize and the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Yanagihara was born in Los Angeles in 1971, to a Japanese father and a Jewish-Lithuanian mother. She began writing as a young girl and wrote her first story at age 8. She writes mainly about male friendships and queer identity.

Yanagihara’s writing has been praised for its combination of lyricism, insight, and breadth of vision. She often writes about difficult, heavy topics such as loneliness, depression, and trauma from an unflinching yet sympathetic perspective.

Yanagihara’s first novel, The People in the Trees, was published in 2013. The book follows a young scientist who discovers a mysterious, isolated island in the South Pacific, where he discovers a new species of primate and ultimately faces devastating consequences. It was longlisted for both the Booker Prize and the NBCC Award and won the 2013 Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Fiction.

Yanagihara’s second novel, A Little Life, was published in 2015. It follows the lives of four college friends who, despite the fact that their paths diverge, remain connected to each other in ways that are darkly beautiful, often heartbreaking, and ultimately redeeming. The book was met with widespread acclaim and won the Kirkus Prize for Fiction in 2015. It was also a finalist for the Booker Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, and National Book Award.

In addition to her two novels, Yanagihara has written for several publications, including The New York Times, Vogue, and The New Yorker. She has also served as an editor for T: The New York Times Style Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler.

Those who read Hanya Yanagihara’s books will find themselves in the hands of a masterful storyteller. Her ability to explore highly charged topics with rigor, insight, and sensitivity is rare, and her characters often ask hard questions about the meaning of life, friendship, and identity. With each of her novels, Yanagihara has continued her exploration of difficult subject matter, and readers will find themselves deeply moved and challenged.