Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, including Take My Hand (2022) and, most recently, Happy Land (2025) which was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by Harper’s Bazaar, Ms., Real Simple, Woman’s World, People, Reader’s Digest, and elsewhere. Take My Hand was awarded a 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association, Fiction Award from Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. A three-time nominee for a United States Artists Fellowship, Dolen is widely considered a pre-eminent chronicler of American historical life. She is Associate Professor in the MFA Program at American University in Washington, DC.
