Shani Boianjiu (Hebrew: שני בוינג'ו; born 30 May 1987) is an Israeli author. Her debut novel, The People of Forever Are Not Afraid, was released in 2012,[1] and has been published in 23 countries.[2] In 2011 the National Book Foundation named her a 5 under 35 honoree.
Shani Boianjiu | |
|---|---|
 Shani Boianjiu, 2022 | |
| Born | 30 May 1987 Jerusalem, Israel |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Hebrew, English |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Citizenship | Israeli |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
Biography
editBoianjiu was born in Jerusalem to parents of Iraqi and Romanian descent, and grew up in Ma'alot Tarshiha and Kfar Vradim in the Western Galilee.[3][4] She attended Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 2005. After two years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces, she attended Harvard, graduating in 2011.[5][6]
While at Harvard, Boianjiu served as president of the Radcliffe Union of Students, Harvard's feminist organization,[7] and as the co-chair of Quincy House House's Committee.[8] She was a junior research partner at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced study, working for the scholar Reuven Snir.[9] In the summer of 2008, she attended summer school at Waseda University, Tokyo.[10] In the summer of 2009, she interned at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.[11][12][13] In the summer of 2010, she used the funds she received as an Artist Development Fellowship recipient to rent an apartment right across from Iowa City's jail and write fiction.[14]
She lives in the Western Galilee and is currently[when?] completing work on her second novel.[15][16]
Boianjiu's writing has appeared in The New York Times,[17] The New Yorker,[18] Zoetrope,[19] Vice,[20] The Wall Street Journal,[21] The Globe and Mail,[22] Dazed and Confused,[23] The Guardian,[24] NPR.org,[25] Chatelaine[26] and Flavorwire.[27]
Awards and recognition
editBoianjiu was the first Israeli author to be longlisted for the UK's Women's Prize for Fiction, and the youngest nominee that year (2013).[28] Her debut novel was selected as one of the ten best fiction titles of 2012 by The Wall Street Journal, [29] as one of the Pakistani Herald's best books of 2012,[30] as one of the Swedish Sydsvenskan's best books of 2013,[31] and as one of the Israeli Haaretz's best books of 2014.[32]
Boianjiu is the youngest recipient ever of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award, based on a recommendation from the writer Nicole Krauss.[33] She was a finalist for the 2013 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature,[34] a semi-finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award,[35] and selected as one of The Algemeiner's Jewish 100.[36] She was shortlisted for the 2014 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize.[37]
References
edit- ^ Williams, John (September 26, 2012). "Shani Boianjiu on Her New Novel and Female Soldiers in Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ "War is Natural". Mujerhoy.com.
- ^ Shani Boianjiu (July 10, 2013). "Shani Boianjiu: How I write". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Sex, Guns and Boredom". Die Welt.
- ^ "Shani Boianjiu". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30.
- ^ "Breaking News: You're Old," WORMBOOK.
- ^ "Sexploitation". The Harvard Crimson. March 30, 2009.
- ^ "Quincy Mole," Youtube.
- ^ Reuven Snir, at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
- ^ "Asia-related student research projects are awarded funding," Harvard Gazette.
- ^ Human Rights Studies Award Recipients at Harvard Archived 2014-02-14 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "2008-2009 Annual Report," The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (link in Hebrew).
- ^ "Protocol of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee, July 28 2009," the Israeli Knesset (link in Hebrew).
- ^ "2010 Artist Development Fellows". Harvard Arts Blog. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28.
- ^ "Five Questions With... Shani Boianjiu". International Festival of Authors. Archived from the original on 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
- ^ "12 novelists tell their scariest bite-size stories". Salon. October 10, 2013.
- ^ "What Happens When the Two Israel's Meet," The New York Times.
- ^ "Means of Suppressing Demonstrations," The New Yorker.
- ^ "People That Don't Exist Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine," Zoetrope.
- ^ "The Sound of All Girls Screaming," Vice.
- ^ "Shani Boianjiu on Novels About Coming of Age". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Things I Have Done I Cannot Undo". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Should Armies Use Social Media to Fight Their Wars?" Dazed and Confused.
- ^ "Young Gun: Life in the Israel Defense Forces". The Guardian. March 11, 2013.
- ^ Boianjiu, Shani (17 September 2012). "Books Behaving Badly: A Tale Of Real Life In Ink". NPR. NPR.org.
- ^ "The Sound of All Girls Screaming," Chatelaine.
- ^ "10 Fantastic Books About Ladies on the Move Archived 2014-05-03 at the Wayback Machine," Flavorwire.
- ^ "Israel's Shani Boianjiu in the running for top U.K. book award," Haaretz.
- ^ "The Best Fiction of 2012," The Wall Street Journal
- ^ "Best Books for 2012 Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine," Herald.
- ^ "Årets böcker 2013," Sydvenskan.
- ^ "The Best Books of 2014," Haaretz.
- ^ "5 Under 35, 2011". National Book Foundation. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ^ "2013 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
- ^ VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.
- ^ "Jewish 100: Shani Boianjiu - Tomorrow," The Algemeiner.
- ^ "Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize Shortlist Announced," Foyles.