Marita Golden

Marita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction writer, distinguished teacher of writing and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers.

Marita Golden was born in Washington, D.C., in 1950 and attended the city’s public schools. She received a B.A. in American Studies and English from American University and a M.SC. in Journalism from Columbia University. After graduating from Columbia, she worked in publishing and began a career as a free-lance writer, writing feature articles for many magazines and newspapers including Essence Magazine, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Her first book, Migrations of the Heart (1983), was a memoir based on her experiences coming of age during the 1960s and her political activism as well as her marriage to a Nigerian and her life in Nigeria where she lived for four years.

She has taught at many colleges and universities, including the University of Lagos in Lagos Nigeria, Roxbury Community College, Emerson College, American University, George Mason University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds the position of Writer in Residence at the University of the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C. Previous Writer-in-Residence positions have been held at Brandeis University, University of the District of Columbia, Hampton University, Simmons College, Columbia College, William and Mary, Old Dominion University and Howard University.

As a literary activist, she co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based African American Writers Guild, as well as the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, which serves the national and international community of Black writers.