Nathan McCall (born 1955) is an American author and journalist. He has written in the genres of novel, memoir, biography, and social commentary, often focusing on the

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

experience.

Biography

As the stepson of a Navy man, McCall grew up in various locations, such as

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

and the Cavalier Manor section of

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. After serving three years in prison, he studied journalism at

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

. He reported for '' The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star'' and ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' before moving to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' In 1989. In his first book, '' Makes Me Wanna Holler'', McCall provides a detailed story of his life of violence and street crime, as well as the hardships he experienced growing up with racial profiling, class differences and peer pressure. He describes, in graphic detail, gang-rapes and violent assaults he participated in during his youth. His second book, '' What's Going On'', used personal essays to discuss some larger issues such as social, cultural, and political tensions that affect the modern day United States. After the success of his books, McCall was in demand as a speaker. He left ''The Washington Post'' for the

lecture circuit The "lecture circuit" is a euphemistic reference to a planned schedule of regular lectures and keynote speeches given by celebrities, often ex-politicians, for which they receive an appearance fee. In Western countries, the lecture circuit has bec ...

. Today he continues to write, and holds the post of lecturer in the Department of African-American Studies at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. His first novel '' Them: A Novel'', dealing with issues of

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

in an Atlanta neighborhood, was published in 2007. ''Them'' tells the story of Barlowe Reed, a single, forty-something African-American man, who has to come to terms with the gentrification of his neighborhood, in particular the influx of white people to the area. In an April 2014 interview with ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'' magazine, McCall stated that he was amazed that ''Makes Me Wanna Holler'' was still selling after 20 years.

References

External links

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Faculty bio
at Emory University * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Nathan 1955 births Living people 21st-century American novelists African-American non-fiction writers African-American novelists American male journalists American male novelists American memoirists Norfolk State University alumni The Atlanta Journal-Constitution people Novelists from Virginia American male essayists People from Portsmouth, Virginia 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American people