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Get the most interesting and important stories from the University of Pittsburgh.A new Pitt collection showcases the stories of local author Sharon G. Flake
Long before she became an award-winning author, Sharon G. Flake grew up in a house full of storytellers.
In the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of North Philadelphia, the Flake household was rarely quiet. The fifth born of six children, Flake grew up listening as relatives gathered to talk about work, family memories and the rhythms of everyday life. Stories came alive through voices, gestures and laughter.
At the time, she didn’t realize those moments were shaping her future.
“I look back and say, ‘Oh — you got me interested in stories,’” Flake (A&S ’78) said of her parents and extended family. “They were my first storytellers.”
Those early experiences — the sense of community and the way people cared for one another — would later echo through the pages of her books.
Now the origins of that storytelling, and the impact it has had on generations of readers, are resonating from a new home. The University of Pittsburgh Library System has acquired a major collection of Flake’s papers and materials, documenting decades of literary work and cultural influence.
The archive includes manuscripts, drafts, letters and personal memorabilia that reveal both her creative process and the reach of her stories.
It is fitting that the collection now resides at Pitt. After all, the campus is where Flake first began to discover her voice.
Finding her voice
In 1973, Flake arrived at the University of Pittsburgh convinced she would become a doctor. Like many first-year students, however, she was still figuring out who she was and where she belonged.
Science classes soon convinced her that medicine wasn’t her path forward. Writing, however, felt different.
At Pitt, Flake discovered something more important than a career plan — it was permission.
“I was allowed to make mistakes,” she said. “I was allowed to cross things out. I was allowed to be honest.”
That freedom helped her find a voice she hadn’t yet been confident enough to use in everyday life. Writing allowed her to express ideas and truths she might never have spoken aloud.
Flake graduated with a degree in English writing and later worked in public relations at Pitt, telling the stories of accomplished alumni, staff, faculty and students. But telling her own stories remained central to her life, too.
A breakthrough moment
In 1992, Flake entered a short story contest judged by acclaimed playwright August Wilson. Her entry, “The Luckiest Sister,” explored colorism within a family through the eyes of a light-skinned girl reflecting on how the world treated her darker-skinned sibling.
The story won.
Wilson presented the award in a Hill District church, a moment Flake still remembers vividly. The story was later published in AIM magazine and became her first published work of fiction.
The themes she explored in that early story — identity, belonging and self-acceptance — would later shape her literary career.
Flake’s debut novel, “The Skin I’m In,” published in 1998, quickly became a landmark in young adult literature. The story follows Maleeka Madison, a middle school girl struggling with bullying and insecurity about her dark skin. Through the guidance of a teacher who embraces her own difference, Maleeka learns to claim her voice and self-worth.
The novel resonated deeply with readers and educators. It won the 1999 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent and later received additional Coretta Scott King honors.
Over the years, Flake has written numerous acclaimed books for young readers, including “Money Hungry,” “Pinned,” “Bang!” “The Life I’m In” and “The Family I’m In.” Her stories explore the emotional lives of young people navigating identity, relationships and resilience. Her recent book “Hattie Mae Begins Again” has earned broad praise.
For many readers, those stories are deeply personal.
Khirsten L. Scott, an assistant professor in Pitt’s School of Education and director of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, remembers first encountering Flake’s work as a child.
Scott’s great-aunt, who worked for a publishing company in Chicago, would periodically send her boxes of books.
“One time, ‘The Skin I’m In’ was in that box,” Scott recalled. “What struck me immediately was the cover: There was a Black girl on it.”
For Scott, that representation was powerful. “I do not remember seeing that very often when I was young, especially not on a chapter book that centered a young Black girl’s story,” she said. I felt deeply connected to Maleeka.”
Years later, after moving to Pittsburgh, Scott had the opportunity to meet Flake through community work around literacy and youth writing. The conversations they shared, she said, deepened her appreciation for Flake’s influence.
“What stands out to me about Sharon’s work is how expansively she stories Black life — families, communities and the layered realities of Black cultural experience,” said Scott, who added that it’s an influence she sees in classrooms.
Teachers often choose Flake’s books, said Scott, because students connect so strongly to the characters and themes. Through programs supported by the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, students have read “The Skin I’m In” and even had opportunities to meet Flake and discuss her work.
Preserving her heart
Today, Flake is thinking about legacy.
Among the materials now preserved in Pitt’s archive are speeches, drafts of books, event programs and letters from teachers and readers. One box even includes a handmade T-shirt a student created based on one of her novels. Another contains a Japanese translation of “The Skin I’m In” sent by a reader overseas.
Most meaningful to Flake are the letters from students.
“I kept almost everything,” she said. “Letters, drawings, thank-you notes. Those things tell a story, too.”
The archive also reveals her creative process — handwritten edits, crossed-out sentences and early drafts that show writing as a complicated, evolving craft.
“I want people to see that creativity is messy,” she said. “You try things. You throw some things out.”
When readers and researchers explore the collection, Flake hopes they discover something deeper than literary success.
Her writing, she said, carries a simple but powerful message.
“It’s OK to be Black,” she said. “And it’s OK to be yourself.”
“Writing allows you to open your heart,” she said. “It should be honest and unashamed.”
See the new collection
The University Library System’s Archives and Special Collections is hosting a public celebration of the Sharon G. Flake archives on March 31, 4-5:30 p.m. in Hillman Library, Room 340. Register to attend.
Top photo by Hannah Price