Myisha Priest

Myisha Priest is an Associate Professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley (1993), an M.A. in African American Studies from Cornell University (1995), and a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley (2005). Her research and teaching focus on African American literature and material culture, exploring intersections such as the influence of children’s literature on African American writing.

Her work includes a forthcoming book manuscript, The Children’s Miracle: The Impact of Children’s Literature on African-American Writing, and published articles in journals like American Quarterly, The Crisis, and Meridians. She organized the 2017 conference Scenes at 20: Inspirations, Riffs, Reverberations at Columbia University.

• Research Interests: African American literature, material culture, interdisciplinary literary studies, literary memory, and cultural production.
• Awards:
  • Schomburg Center Fellowship (2009-2010)
  • NYU Humanities Initiative Faculty Fellowship (2015-2016)
  • Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2018-2019)

Priest has received grants and fellowships supporting her scholarly work and has contributed to academic discourse through conferences and publications.