Mitchell S. Jackson

Mitchell S. Jackson is an American writer. Jackson is a Whiting Award recipient and a former winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. In 2021, while an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Chicago, he won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing for his profile of Ahmaud Arbery for Runner's World. , Jackson is the John O. Whiteman Dean's Distinguished Professor in the Department of English at Arizona State University.

He has also been the recipient of fellowships from TED and the Lannan Foundation. Jackson is also a public speaker and documentarian. In his youth, he was arrested on drug charges and sent to prison, where he took an interest in literature and began experimenting with autobiographical writing.

Career

In 2012, Jackson published Oversoul: Stories & Essays, an ebook compilation of short fiction and non-fiction. The Paris Review, and The Sydney Morning Herald. Jackson is a Whiting Award recipient. the PEN/ Hemingway award for first fiction, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for best fiction by a writer of African descent; it was short-listed for the William Saroyan International Prize for writing, and named an "Honor Book" by the BCALA. He has been the recipient of fellowships from TED, and The Bread Loaf Writer's Conference.

Jackson is the co-director, writer, and producer of The Residue Years: A Documentary (2013), a documentary film exploring the autobiographical elements of his novel of the same name. It was an Official Selection of the Portland Film Festival. It premiered on the Web at the Literary Hub website.

Jackson is a former TED speaker. Middlebury College, and UMASS; at events including The Brooklyn Book Festival, and the Sydney Writers' Festival; at various adult prisons and youth facilities; The PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and The Volunteers of America. He has served on the faculty of New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago. He is currently on the faculty at Arizona State University. It was selected for Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019, NPR's Books We Love 2019, and Buzzfeed's Best Books of 2019.

Works

Books

Fiction

Collections Oversoul: Stories & Essays. The Collections House. 2012.

Short fiction and poetry "Sixty, Seventy, Eighty." Gigantic Magazine. 2013. "Oversoul." Vice – Fiction Issue. June 2012. "An Exquisite Corpse." Gigantic Magazine. October 10, 2011. "Presidents: An Epic" The Frozen Moment: Contemporary Writers on the Choices That Change Our Lives. 2011. "Head Down, Palm Up." New York Tyrant. Fall 2011. "Luminous Days: a novel excerpt." Tusculum College Literary Journal Vol 1. 2005. "Post Script." Intimacy: Erotic Stories of Love, Lust, and Marriage by Black Men. 2004. "Late Night". Sou’ Western Literary Journal. 2003. "Luminous Days." Gumbo: An Anthology of African American Writing. 2002.

Nonfiction "Portrait of a Lifeguard." Dossier Journal. 2008. "Interview With Emory Douglas." Dossier Journal. 2008. "True to the Selves." aboutaword.com. June 29, 2012. "No Blood Left Behind." Everyday Genius. November 15, 2012. "My First Time." Davidabramsbooks.blogspot.com. August 26, 2013. "The Name Game." Bookpage. September 2013. "Growing Up Black in the Whitest City in America." Salon. March 17, 2014. "How to Catch A Racist: The Donald Sterling Edition." Guernica Mag. May 6, 2014. "Dear Gordon." Tin House Magazine. Spring 2015. Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family. Scribner, 2019. Twelve Minutes and a Life. Runner's World, 2020. He Was My Role Model. My Mentor. My Supplier. New York Times Magazine, December 20, 2023.

Film The Residue Years: A Documentary. 2013.

Honors 2004: Hurston Wright Foundation, Award For College Writers (Fiction) 2008: Urban Artist Initiative, NYC Fellowship 2011: Center For Fiction, Emerging Writers Fellowship 2016: Whiting Writers’ Award, Winner 2016: TED, Fellowship 2021: Pulitzer Prize, Feature Writing