True Biz

Nović is an American author, activist, and creative writing professor who graduated from Emerson College and holds an MFA from Columbia University, where she studied fiction and literary translation. She is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at Stockton University.

Although True Biz is fictional, it is directly influenced by Nović’s life. In an interview about the novel with Bomb Magazine, Nović, who is a Deaf person, reveals that—like Charlie—she came late to the Deaf community. Also, like her protagonist, Nović attended mainstream schools, an experience that taught her how to lay low to make her deafness appear less burdensome to her hearing counterparts. This experience is directly reflected in Charlie’s education in a mainstream system; the character goes out of her way to fit in, even if it means degrading herself.

Although most Deaf children are born to hearing parents, a remarkably small percentage of parents of Deaf children learn sign language. Nović has a small child; as a result, she has been “thinking a lot about language and how it affects one’s worldview” (Nović, Sara. “Deafness Is Not a Monolith.” Interview by Annie Liontas.