Bryan Washington (born October 1993) is an American writer from Houston. He published his debut short story collection, ''Lot'', in 2019 and a novel, ''

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

'', in 2020.

Early life and education

Washington was born October 1993 in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and moved to

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city of ...

when he was 3 years old. He knew he was gay at a young age but did not formally

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

, fearing stigmatization. He graduated from

James E. Taylor High School James E. Taylor High School (THS) is a public high school in unincorporated area, unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in Greater Katy. The school, in Nottingham Country, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of Katy Independent School Distr ...

in 2011. Washington graduated from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

with a BA in English, and continued his education at the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

where he graduated with an MFA.

Career

For his collection of short stories, ''Lot'', he was recognized as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35.''Lot'', a series of interconnected short stories set in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, was published in 2019 by Riverhead. The book centers in part on Nicolás, a young man of mixed

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and

Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

descent who works in his family's restaurant while coming to terms with his sexuality. The book was the winner of the 2019 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the 2020

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

, and the 2020

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on gay male themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of the ...

. Washington's debut novel, ''

'', was published on October 27, 2020. In addition to being longlisted for the Aspen Literary prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, ''Memorial'' was also named a ''New York Times Notable Book.'' Prior to publication,

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

purchased the rights to adapt the novel for television, with Washington adapting his novel. Washington lectures in English at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, where in July 2020 he was made George Guion Williams Writer in Residence and Scholar in Residence for Racial Justice.

Bibliography

Books

* * * ''Family Meal: A Novel''. Riverhead Books. 2023

Fiction and essays

* * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Bryan Living people 1993 births 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists African-American short story writers African-American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers American gay writers Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners LGBT African Americans American LGBT novelists Writers from Houston People from Katy, Texas LGBT people from Kentucky LGBT people from Texas University of Houston alumni University of New Orleans alumni 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American LGBT people African-American male writers