Introducing The Debutante Ball, Class of 2022
Who are we?
The Debutante Ball is a group of six women and gender-non-conforming debut authors striving to make the most of our debut year by creating a community that focuses on creativity and collaboration.
This tradition has been going on since 2007.
We seek to champion, promote and support each other throughout the publication process. Through sharing our stories and experiences as debut authors, we hope to serve as a resource of insight and inspiration. By highlighting the voices of other authors, especially those from diverse backgrounds, throughout our debut year, we strive to support the love of literature in a more inclusive environment.
Thank you for being part of our journey.
With gratitude from,
Sarah Grunder Ruiz, Flora Collins, Jennifer Fawcett, Sonya Singh, Carolyn Huynh and Cleyvis Natera
Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships, Berkley, 11/23/21
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Sarah Grunder Ruiz is a writer, educator, and karaoke enthusiast. Originally from South Florida, she now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband and two children. She holds an MFA in creative writing from North Carolina State University, where she now teaches First-Year Writing.
Flora Collins
Nanny Dearest, Mira, 11/30/21
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Flora Collins was born and raised in New York City and has never left, except for a four-year stint at Vassar College. When she’s not writing, she can be found watching reality shows that were canceled after one season or attempting to eat soft-serve ice cream in bed (sometimes simultaneously).
Nanny Dearest is her first novel, and draws upon personal experiences from her own family history.
Jennifer Fawcett
Beneath the Stairs, Atria, 2/22/22
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Jennifer Fawcett grew up in rural Eastern Ontario and spent many years in Canada making theatre before coming to the United States. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her work has been produced in theaters across the country and published in Third Coast Magazine, Reunion: The Dallas Review, Storybrink, and in the anthology Long Story Short.
She teaches writing at Skidmore College and lives in upstate New York with her husband and son.
Sonya Singh
Sari, Not Sari, Simon & Schuster, 4/30/22
Twitter | Instagram | Website
Sonya Singh is an author, writer, and storyteller who currently lives in Toronto, Canada. She’s a former entertainment reporter turned PR expert.
Her debut novel Sari, Not Sari, is slated for a spring release in ’22. She also signed an international two-book deal.
Sonya wrote Sari, Not Sari, to laugh her way through some of her more disastrous breakups.
In her spare time, you can find Sonya sipping on a matcha latte, enjoying a homemade pizza, or hanging out with her adorable dog, Moses Alexander.
Carolyn Huynh
The Fortunes of Jaded Women, Atria, Sept 2022
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Carolyn Huynh grew up in Orange County, California, not appreciating the weather enough. She has a B.A. in journalism from Seattle University and a M.S. in human centered design from the University of Washington. The youngest daughter of Vietnamese refugees, her writing focuses on her mother’s tall-tales, superstitions, the diaspora, and memory (both real and imaginary). She especially loves writing about messy Asian women who never learn from their mistakes. After living up and down the west coast, she now resides in Los Angeles with her dog. She still doesn’t appreciate the weather enough. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Saigon.
Cleyvis Natera
Neruda on the Park, Ballantine Books, 5/17/22
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Cleyvis Naterawas born in the Dominican Republic, migrated to the U.S. at ten years old, and grew up in New York City. She holds a BA from Skidmore College and an MFA from New York University. Her writing has won awards and fellowships from PEN America, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Kenyon Review’s Summer Writers Workshops, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She teaches Creative Writing in New York City. She lives with her husband and two young children in Montclair, New Jersey.