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Brontez Purnell

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Brontez Purnell

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1982-07-02 （Triana, Alabama）
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Triana, Alabama → Oakland, California

Career

Occupations
Author, musician, dancer, director
Active Years
2003-2024

Awards

Whiting Award
2018
Work: Fiction
Category: Fiction
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: Winner
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction
2022
Work: 100 Boyfriends
Category: Gay Fiction
Organization: Lambda Literary Foundation
Result: Winner
Robert Rauschenberg Award
2022
Category: Performance Art/Theater
Organization: Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Result: Winner
Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize
2021
Organization: Lambda Literary Foundation
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Since I Laid My Burden Down

2017 Gay Fiction

A novel depicting gay life

sexsexualitygay identity

100 Boyfriends

2021 Gay Fiction

Story of 100 boyfriends

sexsexualityhumor

The Cruising Diaries

2014 Memoir

Cruising diaries

gay sexual experiences

Johnny Would You Love Me if My Dick Were Bigger

2015 Fiction

Humorous gay novel

sexualityself-acceptance

10 Bridges I've Burnt

2024 Fiction

Bibliography

  • The Cruising Diaries (2014)
  • Johnny Would You Love Me if My Dick Were Bigger (2015)
  • Since I Laid My Burden Down (2017)
  • 100 Boyfriends (2021)
  • 10 Bridges I've Burnt (2024)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Humorous and frank stylepunk edge
Recurring Motifs
sex and bodygay experienceshumor and frankness

Legacy

Influential writer and performer in gay literature and punk scene

Quotes

  • In my work I try to use 'sex' or the body as this thing that does not create boundaries or separation with an audience, but instead gives my audience back their humanity.
    Source: Interview
  • I […] allowed myself to just be a pretty Black boy making a pop record—and like, why the fuck shouldn't I?
    Source: Album description (2023)

Trivia

  • Created his first zine, Schlepp Fanzine, at age 14
  • Great-grandfather was bottleneck guitarist 'Hard Rock' Charlie Malone
  • Moved to Oakland at age 19
  • Frontman for Gravy Train!!!! and The Younger Lovers
  • Founder of Brontez Purnell Dance Company