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Brian Keith Jackson

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Brian Keith Jackson
Born1968 (age 55–56)
Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe

Brian Keith Jackson (born 1968) is an American novelist, essayist and culture writer based in Harlem, New York.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Jackson was raised in Monroe, Louisiana, the only child of a middle-class family. He and was influenced by the compassion and wisdoms bequeathed to him by his great-grandmother, whom he knew personally and who survived the end of slavery.[3][4][5] He earned a bachelor's degree, studying journalism, from University of Louisiana in Monroe. After graduating Jackson moved to Flint, Michigan and began working on a newspaper there.[4][6][5]

Career

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Jackson moved to New York in 1990 with hopes of becoming an actor. He became frustrated with the roles available to him and began playwriting to create the roles he was looking for. The first time he incorporated gay characters into his writing was in his plays, unpacking the characters as part of communities and relatable rather than a stereotypical trope. His plays were performed and read at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, La Mama, Barnes and Noble and Theatre for the New City.[4][6][7][8][5]

Jackson has written for New York, Paper, The Observer, Nylon and various publications about art and contemporary culture.[9][6] He gleans inspiration from everyday things.[4] He began writing novels in order to "cut out the middle man" and have direct impact and trust with his audience.[5]

Inspired by Jackson's great-grandmother's rural Southern experience, he wrote his first novel in 1997, at age 29, The View From Here (1997), which was set in 1950s Mississippi.[3][10] It was compared to Alice Walker's The Color Purple and translated to French and a best seller in South Africa.[11][5][6]

Walking Through Mirrors (1998), Jackson's second novel, is about a Black photographer returning to his home in Louisiana from New York.[3]

Jackson wrote his The Queen of Harlem, before the Harlem's redevelopment about a man who reclaims his Black identity.[1][12] It was on the artist Kehinde Wiley's ten favorite books in 2016.[13]

Awards

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Jackson's first novel was completed with a fellowship from Art Matters Foundation and it won the American Library Association Black Caucus' First Fiction Award. He won a fellowship from the Millay Colony of the Arts.[3][10]

Personal life

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Jackson is openly gay.[14] When Jackson moved to New York he was a model for ACT UP.[5]

Jackson has spent extensive time traveling the world. He has visited over forty-eight states and twenty-five countries, inspired by the idea that his brown skin might blend in better in other countries than in America, with its racially tumultuous past.[2] He lived in Beijing for four years and Tunisia.[2]

Jackson often writes essays for the monographs of his dear friend, artist Kehinde Wiley.[13][2] He is a frequent collaborator and supporter of artists.[2][15]

Bibliography

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Monographs
  • Jackson, Brian Keith. The Queen of Harlem. New York : Harlem Moon, 2003. ISBN 978-0767908399 OCLC 52003177
  • Jackson, Brian Keith. Walking Through Mirrors. New York : Washington Square Press,1998. ISBN 978-0671568948 OCLC 42202353
  • Jackson, Brian Keith. The View from Here. New York : Washington Square Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0671568962 OCLC 38469675
Essays
Excerpts
  • “Walking Through Mirrors (1998).” Black like Us: a Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction, by Devon W. Carbado et al., Cleis Press, 2012. ISBN 9781573447140 OCLC 751718448
  • “The Queen of Harlem.” Gumbo: an Anthology of African American Writing, by Marita Golden and E. Lynn. Harris, Harlem Moon, 2002. ISBN 9780767910460 OCLC 237202511
  • “The View from Here .” Shade: an Anthology of Fiction by Gay Men of African Descent, by Bruce Morrow and Charles H. Rowell, Avon Books, 1996. ISBN 9780380783052 OCLC 33666519

References

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  1. ^ a b "Brian Keith Jackson". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  2. ^ a b c d e Chideya, Farai (2014). "Traveling While Black". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  3. ^ a b c d Carbado, Devon (2011-10-01). Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781573447508.
  4. ^ a b c d "The Bachelors". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gambone, Philip (1999). Something Inside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299161347.
  6. ^ a b c d "ULM News". www.ulm.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  7. ^ New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 1992-03-30.
  8. ^ "EVENTS WEDNESDAY 5/29 Around Town PRASAD's Beyond Fashion Sale's Preview ..." Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  9. ^ "NYC Guide to Restaurants, Fashion, Nightlife, Shopping, Politics, Movies". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  10. ^ a b BARNET, ANDREA (18 May 1997). "The Work of Reconstruction". The New York Times.
  11. ^ HARRIS, MICHAEL (1997-02-21). "A Vivid Picture of Poverty and Racism : THE VIEW FROM HERE by Brian Keith Jackson; Pocket Books $22, 229 pages". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  12. ^ "SoHa complaints: A huge distraction from Harlem's destruction". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  13. ^ a b Wiley, Kehinde (2016-10-14). "My 10 Favorite Books: Kehinde Wiley". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  14. ^ Jackson, Brian Keith (2018-12-13). "I Cross My Legs. Does That Make Me Less of a Man?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  15. ^ "Una astronauta perdida en Nueva York - RTVE.es". RTVE.es (in European Spanish). 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
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