Who

Colson Whitehead has written three well-received novels and a book of essays about New York City.

Backstory

After graduating from Harvard, native Manhattanite Whitehead moved back to the city and got a job as a television critic for the Village Voice. Writing weekly columns inspired him to go long-form, which he did to acclaim with his 1998 debut The Intuitionist, a tongue-in-cheek take on the detective novel. He followed up with John Henry Days (a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer) in 2001; The Colossus of New York, a collection of essays about the city, came out in 2003. His latest is 2006's Apex Hides the Hurt, which revolves around "a nomenclature consultant" who's given the job of coming up with a new name for a town.

AKA

His first name is actually Arch; Colson is his middle name.

Drama

In a New York Times review, Whitehead dismissed Richard Ford's collection of short stories, A Multitude of Sins. When the two men ran into each other at a Manhattan Poets & Writers party years later, Ford christened his new nemesis with a loogie. Whitehead joked to New York magazine that future reviewers of Ford's should come armed with ponchos.

Soundbite

On the subject of being a "black writer," Whitehead has said that "Colossus isn't about race. The Intuitionist is a lot about race, John Henry is about race. Do they have to be? There's no one voice for black writers."

Personal

His wife is Natasha Stovall, and they have one daughter, Madeline ("Maddie"). The family lives in Brooklyn, where Whitehead keeps his collection of Marvel comics, including the first six issues of Spider-Man.