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Zakiya Dalila Harris Author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Other Black Girl

About the Author

Zakiya Dalila Harris is the author of the instant bestseller The Other Black Girl, her debut novel that has been named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Time, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, Lit Hub, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, CrimeReads, Goodreads, Fortune, HypeBae, BBC, and more. Harris’ book has been called “a can’t-miss title for 2021” (Harper’s Bazaar) and a thriller that “you won’t be able to put down” (Today Show), garnering widespread attention more than half a year from its publication date. It will also be adapted to a television series for Hulu, with Harris serving as co-writer and executive producer.

Electric, darkly funny, and endlessly surprising, The Other Black Girl explores the chaos that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Tired of the isolation and microagressions while being the only Black employee at Wagner Books, twenty-six year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. But just as their friendship begins to blossom, a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. Then, the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind those hostile messages, but as Nella begins to spiral, obsess, and ultimately uncover the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.

Harris is no stranger to the publishing industry, having spent close to three years as an editorial assistant at Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Described as Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out, The Other Black Girl is a whip-smart commentary perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace. Harris’ writing initiates eye-opening and candid discussions that highlight the microaggressions, racism, and hierarchies that often develop in the workplace, especially in overwhelmingly white industries. Her keynotes and talks invite readers to think about their position in the workplace with a deeper examination on class, privilege, race, and gender.

Prior to working in publishing, Harris received her MFA in creative writing from The New School and her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in Guernica and The Rumpus.

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  • The Other Black Girl

Raves and Reviews

Praise for The Other Black Girl

Filled with twists both unsettling and unexpected . . . such a timely read.” TIME

A thrilling, edgier Devil Wears Prada that explores privilege and racism.” Washington Post

Harris’ genre-bending evisceration of workplace privilege is set to become the debut of the summer.”Entertainment Weekly

Harris isn’t afraid of taking risks in this book, pushing the plot to thrilling heights. As extraordinary as The Other Black Girl’s story becomes, it’s rooted in all-too-real social problems.” – Oprah Daily

Wholly earned brilliance. Harris makes her entrance as an author with singular style. Whatever she does next might seem quieter, but watch for it: It will be brilliant.” – NPR

Funny and subversive, this debut about the trials of a Black assistant at a mostly white publishing house uses suspense, horror and satire to bring home the toll of workplace racism.” – People

A debut novel that is the perfect mix of social commentary and fast-paced thriller. Poignant, daring, and darkly funny, The Other Black Girl will have you stressed and exhilarated in equal measure through the very last twist.” – Vulture

Riveting, fearless, and vividly original. This is an exciting debut.” – EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Hotel

Witty, inventive, and smart, The Other Black Girl goes deeper to take on class privilege, race, and gender in a narrative that slyly plays along the edges of convention. Zakiya Dalila Harris’s debut is a brilliant combustion of suspense, horror, and social commentary that leaves no assumption unchallenged and no page unturned.” – WALTER MOSLEY, internationally bestselling author of Devil in a Blue Dress

A satire of the clueless racial politics at a prestigious literary house with, in its second half, a horror-movie twist.” – Wall Street Journal

Filled with twists and moments that make you think, Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl is the sharp, compulsive thriller you need this June.” – Shondaland

A pulpy, joyous thrill ride of a book.” – Vox

Harris is excellent at capturing the way a job can become a person’s whole identity, and takes readers on a bracing, whip-smart, piercingly funny trip into a supposedly enlightened industry — and world — where racism, classism, and sexism all conspire to destabilize anyone who isn’t willing to play the game.” – Refinery 29

Harris succeeds in capturing office machinations with a deftness and grace that brings it all to life… [Her] writing propels you forward through the story. She can deliver paragraphs of back story and inner monologue without leaving her reader feeling overwhelmed or disengaged.” – New York Times Book Review

Initially satirical and then spectacularly creepy […] This unique thriller [has] echoes of both Jordan Peele and, in the end, George Orwell.” – Washington Post

A sly satire and thriller rolled into one.” – BBC

[A] perceptive exploration of racism in publishing, wrapped up in a whip-smart story of young women at war in the workplace.” – Los Angeles Times

This twisty thriller will resonate with anyone who has struggled to find her voice as the only Black woman in the room.” – Essence

[A] brilliant debut …The novel takes some bold stylistic risks that pay off beautifully, leaving the reader longing for more of Harris’s words and unique view on the world.” – Vogue

Swerves beyond the conventions of the genre, into territory between psychological thriller and sci-fi […] Harris reinvents the office novel.” – The New Republic

A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary . . . will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.” – The Rumpus

Very, very sharp social commentary about racial tension and bias…my money’s on it being the ‘it’ book of the summer.” – Deputy Editor of The New York Times Book Review Tina Jordan on WNYC’s All of It

OMG, as the kids say. This is the funniest, wildest, deepest, most thought-provoking ride of a book. I have been Nella. Every black woman has been Nella. Zakiya Dalila Harris has pulled back the curtain on the publishing industry, but in doing so, she has also perfectly captured a social dynamic that exists in job cultures as varied as tech, finance, academia, even retail and fast food. Oh, beware of the ‘OBGs’—Other Black Girls—y’all. As we should all be aware of the psychic cost to black women of making ourselves palatable to institutions that use our cultural cache for their own ends while disregarding any part of our hearts and minds that they either can’t or won’t understand.” – ATTICA LOCKE, New York Times bestselling author of Heaven, My Home

While the plot takes a darker turn into thriller territory, this read is ideal for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or dismissed in the workplace.” – Fortune

Electrifying and ingenious, Zakiya Dalila Harris’s The Other Black Girl is essential reading!” – TERRY MCMILLAN, New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not All Downhill From Here

A funny, sometimes creepy indictment of the book business.” – New York Times “The Other Black Girl is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Wholly original, powerful, and a gripping page turner. This is the kind of book that turns authors into stars and the readers into rabid fans. I cannot wait to see what Zakiya does next.” – PHOEBE ROBINSON, bestselling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair

A brilliant, twisty, and highly relevant thriller…Perfect for fans of Alyssa Cole’s When No One Is Watching, or Amina Akhtar’s #FashionVictim.” – Lit Hub

[A] buzzy debut set in publishing that explores race and class in the workplace.” – The Guardian

Wise and funny and it does what the best books do—it opens up a whole world of two young Black women in the very white world of publishing, making the narrative both eye-opening social commentary and a delicious thriller. A mega-talented new author who deserves all the buzz building for her now—and every accolade she is surely going to get.” – CAROLINE LEAVITT, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and With or Without You

[An] edgy, satirical thriller.” – Parade

A can’t-miss title for 2021.” – Harper’s Bazaar

A dazzling, darkly humorous story…the novel overflows with witty dialogue and skillfully drawn characters, its biggest strength lies in its penetrating critique of gatekeeping in the publishing industry and the deleterious effects it can have on Black editors. This insightful, spellbinding book packs a heavy punch.” – Publishers Weekly (starred)

A big-buzzing, thriller-edged literary debut.” – Library Journal

An intimate and specific look at the joys and pains of being a Black woman, especially one working in a majority-white industry… The Other Black Girl is hysterical, intimate, and warm—and bristling with dread. Every page pulls you deeper into the nightmare, coiling tighter and tighter until before you know it, there’s no escape.” – ELISABETH THOMAS, author of Catherine House

This thriller will be one you won’t be able to put down.” – Today Show

The Other Black Girl is a brilliant, witty, thought-provoking book readers will find hard to put down. Full of twists, Harris has delivered a riveting account of the power dynamics Black women must navigate.” – MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN, author of We Cast a Shadow “A psychological thriller for the modern-day working girl . . . filled with suspenseful twists and turns.” – PopSugar

In this deliciously scathing send-up of the blindingly white world of New York City book publishing, a big house hires their second Black editorial assistant, and chaos ensues.” – Electric Literature

Racist behavior in the workplace, white colleagues’ awkward attempts to pretend it doesn’t exist, and the exhaustion of being Black in white spaces are all encapsulated in a pitch-perfect way by Harris . . . this compelling debut thriller will be in demand; a must for public libraries.” Booklist (starred)

Slyly brilliant . . . a nuanced page-turner, as sharp as it is fun. A biting social satire–cum-thriller; dark, playful, and brimming with life.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)

I tore through Zakiya Dalila Harris’s The Other Black Girl, a hilarious yet spine-chilling send-up of the whiteness of the publishing world, with my jaw on the floor. Its detailed dissection of the complex forces that curtail Black ambition is by turns tender and utterly lacerating, combining the nuance of a Kiley Reid with the twisted gut-punches of Bamboozled. It draws you in with a laugh and a smile, then shoves you into a nightmare you won’t be able to shake off. A simply brilliant debut.” – AMY GENTRY, bestselling author of Good as Gone, Last Woman Standing, and Bad Habits

This book is the perfect mixture of edge-of-your-seat thrills and biting social commentary that will get readers talking.” – BookRiot

We’re going to hear a lot about this book for years to come, and I can’t wait.” – Goodreads

Brilliantly positioned at the intersection of satire and social horror, The Other Black Girl incorporates subversively sharp and sly cultural commentary into an addictive and surprisingly dark tale of suspense. Harris displays a distinctive style all her own….a flair for metaphor and a carefully calibrated surrealist perspective. Thoughtful, provocative and viscerally entertaining, The Other Black Girl is a genre-bending creative triumph.” BookPage (starred)

Part The Devil Wears Prada, part Get Out, Harris’s debut is suspenseful, riveting, and darkly funny, with a chilling ending that speaks a devastating truth. The setup to a surprising twist is introduced so deftly that the revelation comes as a delight, pushing the boundaries of the genre.” Library Journal (starred)

[An] incisive debut novel […] The author, herself a former assistant in publishing, delivers not just a critique of the industry’s lack of diversity but an imaginative commentary on the personal and professional sacrifices that Black women make in order to fit into white-dominated spaces.” – The New Yorker

The thriller of the summer, and quite possibly of the year […] It’s the smartest book I’ve read in years about the horrors of competition, old-fashioned gaslighting, and being in thrall to a murky past.” – CrimeReads

In the Media

Esquire Logo and symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand

“The Napkin Project (Holiday Edition): Zakiya Dalila Harris”

December 11, 2023

People Magazine – STALVEY Official US Site

“Zakiya Dalila Harris on Her Novel ‘The Other Black Girl’ and Its Hulu Show: ‘I Love Laughter and I Love Horror and I Want Them to Go Together’”

September 14, 2023

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“Zakiya Dalila Harris’ life inspired ‘The Other Black Girl.’ Why she had to cut the cord”

September 13, 2023

Hollywood Reporter Magazine Store

“‘The Other Black Girl’ Author on Adapting Her Novel for a Post-2020 World”

September 8, 2023

File:CBS News.svg - Wikipedia

“‘It Explores Things We Don’t Talk About Often’: Zakiya Dalila Harris On Novel ‘The Other Black Girl'”

July 29, 2021

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“Race in America: Giving Voice with Zakiya Dalila Harris, Author of “The Other Black Girl””

July 23, 2023

“Be Woke, But Keep Some of That Sleep in Your Eyes: A Conversation with Zakiya Dalila Harris”

August 4, 2021

“Zakiya Dalila Harris’s “The Other Black Girl””

July 9, 2021

“Are You An Aspiring Writer? The Other Black Girl Author Zakiya Dalila Harris Offers Tips for Breaking Into the Publishing Industry”

July 7, 2021

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“Zakiya Dalila Harris: ‘Publishing is such a spoofable world’”

June 5, 2021

“Zakiya Dalila Harris on How to Write a Twist Ending”

June 8, 2021

‘The Other Black Girl’ Is an Immersive, Genre-Bending Debut”

May 26, 2021

“Her Book Doesn’t Go Easy on Publishing. Publishers Ate It Up.”

May 23, 2021

Cosmopolitan Logo, symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand

I Always Thought Writing Was My Form of Protest, but After George Floyd Was Killed, I Took to the Streets”

May 25, 2021

“Zakiya Dalila Harris on her blockbuster debut The Other Black Girl: ‘I want readers to hold many ideas of Blackness at the same time'”

May 20, 2021

Videos

Books by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Other Black Girl

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