About
Namina Forna is a young adult novelist and the Indie and New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Ones. Forna was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where her father and grandmother raised her on fantastic stories of Africa’s epic past. She moved to America when she was nine and settled just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, where she was valedictorian of her high school. For undergrad, she attended Spelman College as a Presidential Scholar and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English.
Forna then continued to the MFA film production program at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where she graduated with honors. In 2018, Forna sold her first novel, The Gilded Ones, in a significant six-figure deal, and then swiftly sold the movie rights with herself attached as screenwriter and Misha Green (Underground, Lovecraft Country ) attached to produce. She is the first Sierra Leonean to have a major young adult book deal, and the first to have a major film deal.
Forna divides her time between Los Angeles, Georgia, and Sierra Leone. She loves building fantastical worlds and telling stories with fierce female leads. The Gilded Ones is the first in a feminist fantasy trilogy and is currently being published in thirteen different countries.
Author website
