Brent Hartinger (born 1971) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his novels about gay teenagers.

Early life

Hartinger was born in 1971 in

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

and grew up in

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, Washington. He earned a bachelor's degree from

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, and studied for a master's degree in psychology at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

Career

Hartinger is the author of fourteen novels. His first published book was the young adult novel ''Geography Club'' (HarperCollins, 2003). He subsequently published seven companion books to that novel, including ''The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know'' (2014); ''Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams'' (2015); ''The Road to Amazing'' (2016); and ''The Otto Digmore Difference'' (2017). These last four books were written for adults, and include the teen characters from his earlier YA novels as adults in their twenties. Hartinger's other books, all for young adults, include ''Grand & Humble'' (2006); ''Project Sweet Life'' (2008); and ''Three Truths and a Lie'' (Simon & Schuster, 2016). A feature film version of Hartinger's first novel, ''Geography Club'', was released in November 2013, co-starring

Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He played Sam Beckett on ''Quantum Leap'' – for which he was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards (winning one) – and Captain Jonathan Arc ...

. Also a screenwriter, various Hartinger's screenplays have been optioned for film, or are in various stages of production, ''Project Pay Day'', a teen caper movie based on his own novel was released in 2021. Hartinger's writing honors include the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

; a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

; the Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award; and an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

nomination. Screenwriting awards include the Screenwriting in the Sun Award, a Writers Network Fellowship, and first place in the StoryPros, Fresh Voices, Acclaim, and L.A. Comedy Festival screenwriting contests. Hartinger has taught creative writing at

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...

, and is the co-founder of the entertainment website

AfterElton.com TheBacklot.com (TheBacklot), founded in January 2005 as AfterElton (AfterElton.com), was a culture website that focused on the portrayal of gay and bisexual men in the media, and was the companion site of the lesbian-focused AfterEllen (AfterElle ...

, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006.

Personal life

In 1990, Hartinger co-founded one of the world's first LGBT youth support groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Hartinger currently has no permanent address, and instead continuously travels the world with his husband, writer Michael Jensen. Their "digital nomad" journey, which has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in Forbes, is documented on their websit
Brent and Michael Are Going Places

Works

The Russel Middlebrook Series (a young adult series) *'' Geography Club'' (2003) *''The Order of the Poison Oak'' (2005) *''Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies'' (2007) *'' The Elephant of Surprise'' (2013) Russel Middlebrook: The Futon Years (an adult series) *''The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know'' (2014) *''Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams'' (2015) *''The Road to Amazing'' (2016) The Otto Digmore Series (an adult series) * ''The Otto Digmore Difference'' (2017) * ''The Otto Digmore Decision'' (2020) Other Books *''The Last Chance Texaco'' (2004) *''Grand & Humble'' (2006) *''Project Sweet Life'' (2009) *''Shadow Walkers'' (2011) *''Three Truths and a Lie'' (2016)

Early life

Career

Personal life

Works

Footnotes

External links