Thomas Chatterton Williams
Thomas Chatterton Williams | |
---|---|
Born | 1981 (age 42–43) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
Occupation | Critic, author |
Alma mater | Georgetown University New York University |
Subject | Race, identity |
Years active | 2007–present[1] |
Notable works | Losing My Cool (2010) Self-Portrait in Black and White (2019) |
Notable awards | Berlin Prize |
Spouse | Valentine Faure[2] |
Children | 2 |
Website | |
thomaschattertonwilliams |
Thomas Chatterton Williams (born 1981) is an American cultural critic and author.[1] He is the author of the 2019 book Self-Portrait in Black and White and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine.
He is a 2019 New America Fellow and a Berlin Prize recipient.
Early life and education
Thomas Chatterton Williams was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1981,[3] to a black father, Clarence Williams, and a white mother, Kathleen.[4][2] He was named after the English poet Thomas Chatterton.[4] He was raised in Fanwood, New Jersey,[4] and attended Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains.[5] Williams graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He also completed a master's degree from New York University's Cultural Reporting and Criticism program.[1]
Career
In 2010, Williams released his first book, Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture.[6]
Williams released his second book, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race, on October 15, 2019.[7][8][9][10]
Williams is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine.[11] He is a 2019 New America Fellow[12] and a Berlin Prize recipient.[13]
In 2020, he wrote the initial draft of "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate", an open letter in Harper's Magazine, signed by 152 public figures. It criticized what the letter argued was a culture of "intolerance of opposing views."[14]
Personal life
Williams married French journalist and author Valentine Faure in France in 2011.[2] He lives in Paris, with Faure and their two children.[15]
Bibliography
- Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race. W. W. Norton & Company. 2019. ISBN 978-0-393-60886-1.
- Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture. The Penguin Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1-59420-263-6.
References
- ^ a b c Thomas Chatterton Williams, Penguin Random House author page. Retrieved 19-Nov-19,
- ^ a b c Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 22, 2019). "Shades of Meaning". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 46–51, 56–57.
- ^ Martin, Michel (June 15, 2010). "Father-Son Bond Inspires Memoir Of Love And Reflection". Tell Me More. NPR. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c Walsh, Jeremy (August 19, 2010). "Fanwood author finds father's voice leads him out of trouble". The Star-Ledger. NJ.com. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ Thomas Chatterton Williams (October 15, 2019). Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race. W. W. Norton. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-393-60887-8.
- ^ McKelvey, Tara (August 6, 2010). "Nonfiction Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ "Self-Portrait in Black and White". W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ Sewell, Summer (October 15, 2019). "Is it time to unlearn race? Thomas Chatterton Williams says yes". The Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ Friedersdorf, Conor (November 5, 2019). "Unraveling Race". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ Lozada, Carlos (October 11, 2019). "How to become an ex-black man". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ Solomon, Andrew (October 14, 2019). "How Moving to France and Having Children Led a Black American to Rethink Race". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ "Thomas Chatterton Williams". New America. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Announcing the 2017-18 Class of Berlin Prize Fellows". American Academy in Berlin. May 10, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer; Harris, Elizabeth A. (2020-08-10). "Artists and Writers Warn of an 'Intolerant Climate.' Reaction Is Swift". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
- ^ Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 17, 2019). "My Family's Life Inside and Outside America's Racial Categories". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
External links
- 1981 births
- Living people
- Writers from Newark, New Jersey
- People from Fanwood, New Jersey
- Writers from Paris
- Georgetown University alumni
- New York University alumni
- American male journalists
- American literary critics
- Berlin Prize recipients
- African-American non-fiction writers
- African-American journalists
- American expatriates in France
- American writer stubs