Phil Henderson, aka Philip Lewis or P. Lewis (born November 2, 1967 in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
) is an American novelist, illustrator, essayist, and poet. His literary work is known for its relentless, caustic satire of
contemporary American culture. His artistic work, however, is noted for its
erotic
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
emphasis on
voluptuous women, especially "Lauren".
Biography
He grew up in
Adelphi,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. His father, Dr. Stephen E. Henderson, was the author of ''Understanding the New Black Poetry''. From 1985 to 1992 Phil Henderson attended
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Henderson dropped out a number of times to travel the world during these years, going first to Germany, Holland and Belgium, then France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Romania. In late 1987 to early 1988, he lived in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
Upon his return to the United States he edited a small literary magazine called ''Cafe Noir''.
After graduating from Howard University in 1992, Henderson became a member of the Fiction Collective Two, with whom he published his first novel, ''Life of Death'', under a nom-de-plume. Between 1993 and 2004 Henderson published only sporadically in small journals. In 1999 he began doing erotic illustrations celebrating the well-fleshed, voluptuous woman. Many of these illustrations were published in his book ''Extreme Curves'' in 2004.
In 2006, Phil Henderson, as P. Lewis, won the
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
for his second published novel, ''
Nate''. The novel took five years to write and went through eight different drafts. It was finished in 1998, yet rejected so relentlessly that Henderson published it under his own imprint, eight years later.
He has recently completed a novel about
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
entitled ''Berlin Asylum.'' Henderson has been based in Berlin since 2002. Since moving to Berlin he has appeared at various venues both in Berlin and the United States, including Tacheles, Literatur-Haus, Schokoladen, English Theatre Berlin (with Lady Gaby's FUEL), Bowery Poetry Club, and others. In April 2009, he appeared at
Amerika Haus Berlin.
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Bibliography
*''Life of Death, 1993''
*
*
*
References
External links
Official Blog of Philip Lewis, Author
Phil Henderson
on Myspace
Phil Henderson at Open Salon
* ttp://diogenplus.weebly.com/philip-lewis-henderson.html Philip Lewis at DIOGENPro Magazine (Bosnia/Herzegovina)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Phil
1967 births
Living people
American erotic artists
American expatriates in Egypt
American male novelists
African-American novelists
Writers from Atlanta
Pseudonymous writers
People from Adelphi, Maryland
American Book Award winners
Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
African-American male writers