Leila Mottley Biography

Leila Mottley is an American novelist, poet, and social justice advocate. She gained international recognition for her debut novel, “Nightcrawling” (2022), a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club pick, which was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, making her the youngest nominee ever at the age of 19. Inspired by a 2015–16 Oakland police scandal, the novel explores gentrification, police brutality, and the exploitation of Black women. Mottley’s second novel, “The Girls Who Grew Big” (2025), follows teenage mothers in Florida as they navigate societal stigma and reproductive rights, informed by her work as a doula. Her poetry collection, “Woke Up No Light: Poems” (2024), addresses Black girlhood and womanhood. Named Oakland’s Youth Poet Laureate in 2018 at 16, her work has appeared in The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler.

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