PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1991) Winner
Jess Mowry
ジェス・モウリー
Jesu Mōrī
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1960-03-27 （near Starkville, Mississippi）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- near Starkville, Mississippi → Oakland, California → Arizona → Alaska
Career
- Occupations
- Author, Truck driver, Heavy equipment operator, Aircraft mechanic, Scrap-metal salvager, Tugboat engineer
- Active Years
- 1988-2025
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award | Rats in the Trees | — | PEN Oakland | 受賞 |
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
1991
Work:
Rats in the Trees
Organization:
PEN Oakland
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Children of the Night
1991 Young adult novelSet in late 1980s Oakland, California during the first wave of the U.S. crack epidemic.
Crack cocaineGangsUrban poverty
Way Past Cool
1992 Young adult novelAbout young African-American teens trying to survive and make the right choices in a world of gangs, guns, drugs and violence in Oakland.
GangsDrugsViolenceComing-of-age
Adaptations
- [Film] Way Past Cool / Adam Davidson (2000)
Translations
- Published in UK, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Japan
Bibliography
- Rats in the Trees
- Children of the Night
- Way Past Cool
- Six Out Seven
- Ghost Train
- Babylon Boyz
- Bones Become Flowers
- Skeleton Key
- Phat Acceptance
- Tyger Tales
- Voodoo Dawgz
- The Bridge
- Knight's Crossing
- When All Goes Bright
- Midnight Sons
- Drawing From Life
- Magic Rats
- Double Acting
- Ghost Ship
- Spencer's Spirit
- The Insiders
- The Light
Translations of Works
- Japanese edition of Way Past Cool etc.
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Realistic depictionInner-city black youth perspectiveStreet vernacular
- Recurring Motifs
- Gang cultureDrug issuesTeenage sexualityPoverty and violence
Legacy
American author of young adult fiction focusing on black children and teens in urban settings like Oakland, addressing contemporary issues realistically.
Trivia
- Born to an African-American father and Caucasian mother.
- Dropped out of school at age 13.
- Began writing on a 1923 Underwood typewriter.