Amina Gautier is an American novelist and essayist born in 1977 in New York City. An African-American and Puerto Rican woman, Gautier says that her heritage was a heavy influence on her growing up. She attended Prep for Prep in her teenage years, a learning institution targeted toward uplifting gifted minority students. After graduating from high school, she attended Stanford University to study English literature and later enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania for her PhD. Gautier’s foray into the literary world began with publishing short stories for various magazines and anthologies. Her first full-length book entitled Now We Will Be Happy was published in September 2014.
Now We Will Be Happy is a collection of stories that details life as a Puerto Rican living in America. The characters are widely diverse, ranging from Puerto Rican immigrants who struggle to speak the language to second-generation children who reject the heritage of their parents. Despite the many hardships that are represented, all of the characters struggle to reconcile the traditions of two vastly differing cultures.
Upon its publication, Now We Will Be Happy received positive reviews from critics and audiences for its moving depiction of the immigrant lifestyle. Kirkus Reviews describes this “colorful collection” as an art piece that “illuminates the hyphenated identities of Afro–Puerto Ricans in the Northeast U.S. and on the island itself.” It ultimately won an International Book Awards in the category of literary fiction, a National Silver IPPY Award, and was named a finalist for the International Latino Book Award.
