Gloria Naylor is an African American novelist and educator. She was born on January 25, 1950 in New York City. She attended Medgar Evans College, Brooklyn College of CUNY and Yale University. Naylor has taught at institutions such as George Washington University, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Princeton University, and Boston University. After reading the novelist Toni Morrison, Naylor was compelled to become a writer and composed The Women of Brewster Place, which received the American Book Award for Best First Novel and became a film in 1989.