LaShonda Katrice Barnett (born May 27, 1974) is an American author, playwright, and former radio host.
She has published short stories, edited books on African-American music, and written a trilogy of full-length plays.
[1] Her 2015 debut novel Jam on the Vine[2] received a Stonewall Book Award by the American Library Association (2016).
Barnett was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1974[5] and grew up as one of five siblings in Park Forest, Cook County, Illinois.
[citation needed] Barnett received grants for her work from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities; and awards from the New York Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the College Language Association (for best short fiction).