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Sonay Hoffman on Hannah Crafts

“Even though it was against the law, she found a way to write.”

Writer Sonay Hoffman tells the story of Hannah Crafts, a former slave who risked everything to write her novel. As a slave and later, during her daring escape, the self-taught Hannah secretly penned a historic narrative whose discovery and worldwide reception over 150 years later would have been unimaginable then. We hope you’re as inspired by Hannah’s bravery and passion as we are!

Storyteller

Sonay Hoffman

Sonay Hoffman was born in Los Angeles, California. An internship at David E. Kelley Productions introduced her to the world of television writing. Screenwriting was it for her. One year after the internship, Sonay was offered a position at DEK Productions as a production assistant in the corporate office.
In 2006, after an invaluable multi-year experience at DEK Productions, Sonay accepted a position on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.
In 2009, Sonay’s writing break arrived when she was awarded a freelance script on Season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy. Shortly thereafter, Sonay was staffed on Private Practice.
Subsequent writing credits include the critically acclaimed ABC drama, American Crime created by John Ridley, Marvel’s Daredevil and USA’s Suits Spinoff, Pearson.
In 2016, Sonay was nominated for a Writer’s Guild Award for her work on American Crime. She has developed drama pilots with ABC Studios and legendary producers, such as Debra Martin Chase. Sonay is currently an Executive Producer on the Sony/ABC hit drama For Life.
She also has an overall deal with Sony Studios. Her pilot, Always Wright is currently in contention at NBC.

Featured Woman

Hannah Crafts

Hannah Crafts (the pen name of Hannah Bond) was an African-American writer who escaped from slavery in North Carolina in the late 1850’s. She wrote The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts, the first novel written by an African-American woman, the only known novel by a fugitive slave woman. The story was published in 2002 for the first time and rapidly became a bestseller.