Jamel Brinkley is an American writer. His debut story collection, ''A Lucky Man'' (2018), was the winner of the

PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award is for U.S. multicultural writers, to "promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the media as to the nature of multicultural work. ...

and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. It was also a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

The Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first ...

, the

John Leonard Award The John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, established in 2013, is an annual literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) for authors' first books in any genre. Unlike other NBCC awards, recipients are selected by members, ...

, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. He currently teaches fiction at the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

Biography

Jamel Brinkley was raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the

, where he teaches. His first book, ''A Lucky Man'', is set in New York City and explores themes of family relationships, love, loss, complex identity, and masculinity.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

said of the collection, " tmay include only nine stories, but in each of them, Brinkley gives us an entire world." His second book, ''Witness'', won the Maya Angelou Book Award in 2024. Brinkley is an alumnus of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop and was also a Kimbilio Fellow in Fiction. He graduated with an MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He was the 2016-2017 Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and a 2018–2020 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Awards

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkley, Jamel Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American writers PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners Writers from Brooklyn Writers from the Bronx Writers from California Columbia College (New York) alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni