Oprah pick led Mt. Airy writer to literary success

Posted 1/23/25

Ayana Mathis spent her early years waiting tables and fact-checking magazines while crafting stories in her spare time, dreaming of becoming a writer since age 8. Now, more than a decade after Oprah Winfrey catapulted her first novel to bestseller status, the Philadelphia native has released "The Unsettled" (Random House), a sweeping narrative that's drawing critical acclaim.

"The Unsettled" chronicles three generations of a family grappling with the legacy of Bonaparte, a 1,000-acre independent Black town in Alabama. The story follows Bonaparte's descendants who fled North, including its …

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Oprah pick led Mt. Airy writer to literary success

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Ayana Mathis spent her early years waiting tables and fact-checking magazines while crafting stories in her spare time, dreaming of becoming a writer since age 8. Now, more than a decade after Oprah Winfrey catapulted her first novel to bestseller status, the Philadelphia native has released "The Unsettled" (Random House), a sweeping narrative that's drawing critical acclaim.

"The Unsettled" chronicles three generations of a family grappling with the legacy of Bonaparte, a 1,000-acre independent Black town in Alabama. The story follows Bonaparte's descendants who fled North, including its favorite daughter, Ava, and her son, Toussaint, as they navigate the harsh landscape of 1980s Philadelphia, perpetually on the edge of homelessness.

The New York Times called the book "Poignant, heartbreaking... Mathis skillfully and subtly drops allusions to historical events, sending the reader on a kind of intellectual treasure hunt."

Mathis's prose sparkles with vivid metaphors: "Her face was clenched like a fist," "A thought leapt across her brain like a cat over a wall," "Toussaint yelped like he was being kicked in his dreams," and "He was always standing in a corner while the party slowly tilted toward him like planets around a sun."

This masterful writing style first caught Winfrey's attention with Mathis's debut novel, "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" (Knopf, 2012). The book, which opens in 1925 with Hattie Shepherd's journey from Georgia to Philadelphia, follows the lives of her 11 children and one grandchild as they confront racism and poverty. It won NPR's Best Book of 2013 Award and garnered several major literary award nominations.

"Oprah completely changed my life," Mathis said. "That first book did not take that long to write, but the great reception had hidden costs. It was the greatest blessing of my life, but there is such a thing as the sophomore slump. It is hard to find privacy, and the next things you write will always be compared to that first book."

Mathis, who grew up in Germantown and Mt. Airy, is a product of Philadelphia's public schools. She graduated from Girls High School before attending New York University. She later returned to Temple University, where she said she was “lucky” enough to study under celebrated poet Sonia Sanchez, now 90, a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement who has authored over a dozen poetry collections.

After completing her MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Mathis taught there for five years. She now teaches creative writing and English at Hunter College in New York City, with guest teaching stints at Rutgers and Columbia Universities.

"I teach masters program adults, ages 24 to 40," Mathis said. "They want to be there. They are very motivated. I don't have a problem with them on their cell phones, as you might have with younger students. If I did, I would shame them."

Her work extends beyond fiction. Mathis has published essays and criticism in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Financial Times, Rolling Stone and Glamour. Her recent five-part New York Times essay series, "Imprinted by Belief," explores the intersection of faith and American literature.

This exploration of faith has led Mathis to pursue a master's degree in divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York. "I don't think I'll get ordained," she said. "It is for my own edification. There are many religious references in my work."

Mathis draws inspiration from a diverse array of writers including Louise Erdrich, Jericho Brown, Ann Carson, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. "At first I thought I was a poet," she said, "but believe me, things are better for everyone because I am not torturing the world with my poetry."

Though her career has taken her away from Philadelphia, the city's influence remains strong. However, visits have become challenging since her mother's death a year ago. "I used to come back to Philly a lot, but I am scared to come back because of the associations with my mother. I used to call her all the time. We were very close."

For more information, visit ayanamathis.com.