BIOGRAPHY

Bonnie Lee Black earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University – Los Angeles in June 2007. An honors graduate of Columbia University, New York (BA, Lit./Writing, 1979), she has been a professional writer and editor for more than 40 years and an educator in the U.S. and overseas for over 30 years.

In addition to her newly published memoir, The Other Side (2024) and her collection of stories and recipes, Sweet Tarts for my Sweethearts (Nighthawk Press, 2020), she is the author of the historical novel Jamie's Muse (Nighthawk Press, 2018) and of the memoir How to Make an African Quilt (Nighthawk Press, 2013), which is the sequel to her 2010 Peace Corps memoir, How to Cook a Crocodile (Peace Corps Writers). Black is also the author of the memoir Somewhere Child (Viking Press, NY, 1981), which was instrumental in the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.                        
                                                                                                                                                 
For ten years (1986-96) she was a chef, caterer, and cooking instructor in Manhattan, during which time her freelance writing focused on food. In 1996, she joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served for two years as a health and nutrition volunteer in Gabon, Central Africa.

On her own, she subsequently (1998-2001) created an economic development project in Mali, West Africa, teaching Malian seamstresses how to make patchwork quilts. That experience became a many-layered, quilt-like book: How to Make an African Quilt: The Story of the Patchwork Project of Ségou, Mali.

Black's essays have appeared in a number of published anthologies and literary journals. Among them: Solamente en San Miguel, Vol. III; Eat, Darling, Eat; Alimentum; Persimmon Tree; Red Mesa Review; Under the Sun; Chokecherries; Storied Recipes; and Farmer-ish.

From 2001 to 2015 she lived in northern New Mexico and taught English and Creative Writing at UNM-Taos, where she was named "Most Inspirational Instructor" in 2010. In 2012 she was honored to be named one of the "Remarkable Women of Taos," and she is also featured in the book of the same name. From June 2014 to June 2016 Black was a regular food columnist for the weekly Taos News. 

In December 2015, at the age of 70, Bonnie retired to the beautiful colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she continued to share her thoughts and experiences in her award-winning weekly blog, The WOW Factor.