Check out our Most Anticipated Books for 2025

Danzy Senna Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Danzy Senna
Photo: © Dustin Snipes

Danzy Senna

Danzy Senna Biography

Danzy Senna is the author of four previous works of fiction, including the bestselling Caucasia and, most recently, New People, as well as a memoir. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she teaches writing at the University of Southern California.



This bio was last updated on 08/19/2024. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Interview

Sarah Dillard from PEN America speaks with author Danzy Senna about her novel, Colored Television

1. Colored Television centers around a writer, Jane, who is trying to complete her second novel. According to her agent, Honor, an author's second novel is "always a disappointment." What's the difference between writing your first novel vs. your second? Do you relate to Jane's struggle and her agent's advice?

I think it's always true for every writer that your debut novel stands on its own, but your second novel is always seen in relation to what came before. The second novel is where the comparisons begin, particularly if your first novel happens to be a big success. You can feel like you are being set up to fail. Add racial dynamics into this equation and there is a whole other layer of complication. Like Jane, I struggled after Caucasia with anxiety, imposter syndrome. I was, like Jane, processing the regular pressures of writing the follow up, compounded by the racial projections thrown onto me as a writer of "uncertain color." In these creative industries, the entire system is set up around a racial binary. And if the industry isn't sure what color you represent, which shelf to put you on, you are more often than not met with bewilderment. All of which is to say, I definitely drew on all these experiences when writing the ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Danzy Senna at BookBrowse
Colored Television jacket New People jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Danzy Senna but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Rumaan Alam

    Rumaan Alam

    Rumaan Alam is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Leave the World Behind, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and adapted into a major motion picture, as well as two other novels. His writing has ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    New People

    Try:
    That Kind of Mother
    by Rumaan Alam

  • Asale Angel-Ajani

    Asale Angel-Ajani

    Asale Angel-Ajani is a writer and Professor at The City College of New York. She's the author of the nonfiction books Strange Trade: The Story of Two Women Who Risked Everything in the International Drug Trade and Intimate: ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Colored Television

    Try:
    A Country You Can Leave
    by Asale Angel-Ajani

We recommend 11 similar authors


Non-members can see 2 results. Become a member
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Absolution
    Absolution
    by Jeff VanderMeer
    Ten years ago, the literary landscape was changed forever when Jeff VanderMeer became the "King of ...
  • Book Jacket: The Message
    The Message
    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    It does not surprise me that Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Message is one of the most important books I've ...
  • Book Jacket
    The House of Doors
    by Tan Twan Eng
    Every July, I take on the overly ambitious goal of reading all of the novels chosen as longlist ...
  • Book Jacket: The Puzzle Box
    The Puzzle Box
    by Danielle Trussoni
    During the tumultuous last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a 17-year-old emperor known as Meiji ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

A few books well chosen, and well made use of, will be more profitable than a great confused Alexandrian library.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.