Ayana Mathis on The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Inspiring Women, and Writing Fiction from Fact

In 2012, Ayana Mathis published her first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. Following an endorsement by Oprah Winfrey, the book soared to the New York Times bestseller list. An intergenerational story about the scars of slavery and the Great Migration, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie weaves together large-scale narrative through the intricacies of its characters’s relationships. 

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Recently, Mathis joined NYPL for a new season of Books at Noon, where she discussed how some of the women in her life—including author Marilynne Robinson—have helped make her the writer she is today and the intersection of fact and fiction.

Just take title character Hattie, who Mathis describes as fictional but reminiscent of the author’s grandmother:

“She’s largely an act of imagination. My own grandmother’s circumstances were somewhat similar to Hattie’s. She’d come from the South, not from Georgia. My grandparents came from Virginia in the early part of the 20^th century... Hattie in some ways is certainly an homage to my grandmother, but she’s also an imagining of who this woman could have been, what she thought, what her experience was, none of which was known to me.”

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Mathis studied at the University of Iowa with author Marilynne Robinson, who wrote Gilead and Housekeeping. Robinson was an important mentor as Mathis drafted The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, and while Mathis referred to Robinson as a genius, she also described her relationship with her MFA thesis advisor as one of almost instant comfort.

“Marilynne’s really generous, very open, anyone can go talk to her. But people don’t because she’s Marilynn Robinson. And I wasn’t, and I think it’s because she reminded me of my mother.”

You can listen to the full Ayana Mathis podcast episode on iTunes and check the complete Books at Noon season schedule to find out which authors you’ll be seeing during your Wednesday lunch break.