Hughes was born on October 25, 1991, in New Haven, Connecticut. She grew up with four sisters and was homeschooled until the fifth grade. She attended Connecticut College where she studied government and served as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper before graduating in 2012 at age 20. After college she attended the Columbia Publishing Course.
Career
Hughes began her career as a fact-checker at New York Magazine, one of only two black employees at the publication throughout her first year there. Hughes served as contributing editor of The Hairpin before becoming an associate editor at The New York Times Magazine in March 2015. At the Times Magazine, Hughes edits the "Letter of Recommendation" feature and the "Talk" column. Hughes has drawn particular attention for her writing on topics from "imposter syndrome" to race and humor, as well as for her own humor writing. In 2016, HelloGiggles named Hughes to its list of "14 Women of the Internet Inspiring Us on International Women's Day" and The L Magazine named Hughes to its 2014 "30 Under 30" list. Brooklyn Magazine named her to its 2016 list of "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture," describing her writing for The Hairpin as "immensely, deservedly popular." Interviewing Hughes in 2015, Longform Podcast describes her as "very young and...very successful in her short time in the media world;" Hughes earned her editorial post at The New York Times Magazine at age 23. The Huffington Post named Hughes's Hairpin piece on her sisters to its year-end list of "28 Pieces From 2014 That Should Be Required Reading For Women" and Autostraddle called her piece on dressing like Cookie Lyonto battleimposter syndrome one of 2015's "best longform written by women." Hughes has also profiled Elaine Welteroth of Teen Vogue and Charlemagne Tha God for the New York Times Magazine. Forbes named Hughes to its 2018 30 Under 30 list for media.
Advocacy
Hughes is also a cofounder of the group Writers of Color, establishing a searchable database of contemporary writers of color in order to "create more visibility for writers of color, ease their access to publications, and build a platform that is both easy for editors to use and accurately represents the writers."
Honors
In May 2018, Hughes was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from her alma mater, Connecticut College, making her the youngest person ever to receive an honorary doctorate from the school.
