Martha Southgate (born December 12, 1960) is an African-American novelist and essayist best known for her novel Third Girl from the Left. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, O, Premiere, and Essence.

Early life

Southgate was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Smith College before obtaining an MFA in creative writing from Goddard.

Martha Southgate

Writing career

Southgate's first novel Another Way to Dance, about a 14-year-old black aspiring ballerina, was published in 1997 by Delacorte Press. For that work she won the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

Martha Southgate

In 2002 she released The Fall of Rome: A Novel, set in a New England private boys boarding school.

Martha Southgate

Her third novel, Third Girl from the Left, was published in 2005.

Southgate's most recent novel, The Taste of Salt was published in 2011 by Algonquin Books.

Adaptations

In 2013 plans for an adaptation of Southgate's novel Third Girl from the Left were announced. Actresses Kerry Washington and Viola Davis were attached to star.

Works

Another Way to Dance (1997) The Fall of Rome: A Novel (2002) Third Girl from the Left (2005) The Taste of Salt (2011)

References

External links

1960 births

20th-century American novelists

African-American novelists

Goddard College alumni

Smith College alumni

Writers from Cleveland

American women novelists

20th-century American women writers

Living people

Novelists from Ohio

20th-century African-American women writers

20th-century African-American writers

21st-century African-American people

21st-century African-American women