https://www.joeokonkwo.com/events daily 0.75 2024-06-19 https://www.joeokonkwo.com/home daily 1.0 2024-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1628605648830-B4D5A8BLYU7J00EJA661/KTSOTBOMN_everywhere_square.jpg Home - “Joe Okonkwo’s storytelling talents are on full display in his new collection. Moving through a range of eras and settings, the finely drawn characters in these nine short stories navigate sex, love, power, betrayal, and belonging as they strive to live as their full and veracious selves.” — Lisa Ko, author of THE LEAVERS, finalist for the National Book Award https://www.joeokonkwo.com/about daily 0.75 2025-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1616112908055-V7MHDSNF91QI8EXHJFFZ/Joe-Website-About-Page.jpg About Photos: Tymel Young https://www.joeokonkwo.com/contact daily 0.75 2024-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1616111732909-1AX4ORUSJGXBB0FZ2IZU/Joe-Website-Contact.jpg Contact - Joe Okonkwo is available for readings, panels, festivals, podcasts, and special events. In-person or virtually. Literary Agent: Malaga Baldi 212-222-3213 | info@baldibooks.com View Press Kit | Follow Joe on Bluesky Social https://www.joeokonkwo.com/publication-list daily 0.75 2024-10-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1616111967739-BCN4S8L3P51ITDJH8T85/Joe-Website-PublishedWorks-2.jpg Publication List - Published Works Novel JAZZ MOON, Kensington Books WINNER: Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction FINALIST: Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction Story Collection KISS THE SCARS ON THE BACK OF MY NECK, Amble Press SILVER MEDALIST: Independent Publisher Awards NOMINATION: The Story Prize Short Stories “You Can’t Do That to Gladys Bentley!” Volume 1 Brooklyn “Paulie,” Newtown Literary “Fluff,” Global City Review “Gift Shop,” The Piltdown Review “The Girls’ Table,” Strength “Picnic Street,” The New Engagement “Language,” Chelsea Station “Brushstrokes,” Love Stories from Africa “Cleo,” Storychord [NOMINATION: Pushcart Prize] “A Proper Welcome,” Shotgun Honey “Skin,” Chelsea Station Magazine “Frou-Frou,” Rind Literary “Baby Boy,” Keep This Bag Away From Children “Eye Candy,” Promethean “Jazz Moon,” (precursor to the novel) Best Gay Stories 2009 Essays “What to Read When You Have a Passion for Eclectic Stories,” The Rumpus “Harlem and Me,” Read it Forward Interviews “A Conversation with Poet Rigoberto Gonzalez,” Newtown Literary “A Conversation with National Book Award Finalist Lisa Ko,” Newtown Literary Poetry “Entitlement,” Van Gogh's Ear “Impressionism,” Priapus “Speakeasy,” Anthology Magazine As Reviewer “The Noguchi Museum - A Portrait,” Publishers Weekly “Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist,” Publishers Weekly “Between Memory and Museum: A Dialogue with Folk and Tribal Artists,” Publishers Weekly “Body of Art,” Publishers Weekly As Editor Newtown Literary, Issues 7 - 16 Best Gay Stories 2017 (Lethe Press) https://www.joeokonkwo.com/jazz-moon daily 0.75 2022-05-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593360727529-XNHNWD5D5ZFRF7S6J5IA/JazzMoonCover Jazz Moon - #HarlemRenaissance On a sweltering summer night in 1925, beauties in beaded dresses mingle with hepcats in dapper suits on the streets of Harlem. The air is thick with reefer smoke, and jazz pours out of speakeasy doorways. Ben Charles and his devoted wife, Angeline, are among the locals crammed into a basement club to hear jazz and drink bootleg liquor. For aspiring poet Ben, the swirling, heady rhythms are a revelation. So is Baby Back Johnston, an ambitious trumpet player who flashes a devilish grin and blasts jazz dynamite from his horn. Ben finds himself drawn to the trumpeter–and to Paris where Baby Back says everything is happening. In Paris, jazz and champagne flow eternally, and Blacks are welcomed as exotic celebrities, especially those from Harlem. It’s an easy life that quickly leaves Ben adrift and alone, craving solace through anonymous dalliances in the city’s decadent underground scene. From chic Parisian cafés to seedy opium dens, his odyssey will bring new love, trials, and heartache, even as echoes from the past urge him to decide where true fulfillment and inspiration lie. Jazz Moon won the Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1619701020567-QZDUZBECP92UR9K7Q667/JM_Richard_Paris.jpg Jazz Moon - Reviews and Accolades "Jazz Moon mashes up essences of Hurston and Hughes and Fitzgerald into a heady mixtape of a romance: driving and rhythmic as an Armstrong Hot Five record, sensuous as the small of a Cotton Club chorus girl’s back. I enjoyed it immensely. Frankly, I wish I’d written it." — LARRY DUPLECHAN, author of Blackbird "Okonkwo’s sweeping debut novel combines the rich history of jazz’s golden age with the emotional turmoil of an African American male coming to terms with his sexuality." — LIBRARY JOURNAL "In his debut novel, Joe Okonkwo composes a melodic tale that is as arousing and jarring as one might imagine the roaring jazz era of 1920’s Harlem." — LAMBDA LITERARY "Jazz Moon is an unexpected and original grand romance: sweeping, evocative, and colorful. Okonkwo is an author to enjoy now and watch in the future." — FELICE PICANO, author of Like People in History Photo left: A fan in Paris immersed in Jazz Moon https://www.joeokonkwo.com/jazz-moon-playlist daily 0.75 2021-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593368179193-9TGFR6Q728LF0AQXE6MT/TheJazzSingers_1934.jpg Jazz Moon Playlist - Jazzing the Moon: A Harlem Renaissance Playlist From Bessie Smith to Duke Ellington to Gladys Bentley, this playlist is a thoughtful, carefully-curated introduction to 1920s jazz and the #HarlemRenaissance. Enjoy. Painting: The Jazz Singers by Archibald Motley https://www.joeokonkwo.com/gallery daily 0.75 2021-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593393736699-4PVZ13QPK5RCEBPLAFP3/withTimM.jpg Gallery Joe and Tim Murphy, touting each other's books at the OutWrite LGBT Book Festival in Washington, D.C. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593393071259-GICD4DE1NX9OW8X3W8X5/31100449_10213367571038440_4475461565742579712_n.jpg Gallery Newtown Literary staffers posing during a Lit Crawl. Joe served as Newtown's prose editor and is currently on the editorial review board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593394077740-IUM4UXABPV6ZPM3NZBFS/HousingWorks_EBERSHOFF_7.jpg Gallery With Danish Girl author David Ebershoff at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, NYC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593394255209-HU59KPZWG8LLM7D35FP0/OutWriteEastCityBooksFeb10-700x467.jpg Gallery Hosting an event at East City Book Shop in Washington, D.C. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1599323607489-A11A7Y666Z0N2WYHK9PT/JoeByUnknownSubwayArtist.jpg Gallery A sketch of Joe by an unknown NYC subway artist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593394643779-MEI80M4JSSE8MS87CFTP/JM_Richard_Paris_cropped.jpg Gallery A fan reading Jazz Moon in Paris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1599833075295-R6EMEHZO3AZQX2N0YQU6/received_10154923846045987.jpeg Gallery Joe writes books and edits them, too. He oversaw the anthology, Best Gay Stories 2017. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593394786532-E6Y1NRWHVGYJMKWUU1XF/LammyShoes.jpg Gallery Joe's shoes for the Lambda Literary Awards where his novel Jazz Moon was a finalist for Best Gay Fiction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/2908a253-6c7f-432d-9974-6dcba346a2dc/Rigoberto-Newtown-Interview.jpg Gallery Joe's Newtown Literary interview with superstar poet Rigoberto González. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593395685076-FMRV4UGAODBLNLW39YKS/revolutionbooks.jpg Gallery Reading at Revolution Books in Harlem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1593395846145-OO5ZPJNBO4ZOWLGSTEHL/teaching.jpg Gallery Joe leading a writing workshop at Queens Library in conjunction with Newtown Literary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1599324277844-EFO6119NKVZ9M2GLE8VN/MenOfAllColors.jpg Gallery Joe reading at a Men of All Colors Together event at the LGBT Center in NYC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/831c850d-d547-4c13-908b-32140a0d14d0/Joe-Kiss-Delivered.jpg Gallery Joe in Astoria, Queens, posing with his just-delivered author copy of his new collection, Kiss the Scars on the Back of My Neck. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/107d80cf-60c8-493b-9bd9-4b78eba6b258/E8txqCjUUAE4nri.jpg Gallery Kiss the Scars on display! Photo by Michael Nava https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/f9d1507b-4286-4208-ae92-f28c71f523b8/collage.jpg Gallery Kiss the Scars displayed at The Astoria Bookshop in Joe's home borough of Queens, NYC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/e8ba4173-7d6e-4306-9993-e13ea2d216bc/thumbnail_20210916_172847_HDR.jpg Gallery Sign promoting Joe's reading at Bureau of General Services Queer Division—the one gay bookstore in all of NYC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/9bec9782-ab90-4579-9f8e-aa2e2d37b628/Joe-Matt.png Gallery Virtual Event with Matt Caprioli, author of the memoir, One Headlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/5ff39bff-6390-4230-8477-417456ae097a/KGB-2.jpg Gallery Joe with poet Sokunthary Svay and novelist Scott Alexander Hess, posing before their reading at NYC's iconic KGB Bar. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/48a4f627-ccf1-4d6b-a7b6-d15bce271b44/Amble-LitCrawl_groomed.jpg Gallery The writers of Amble Press at LitCrawl 2021 in San Francisco. Joe read from his short story "You Can't Do That to Gladys Bentley." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/70d4d8ac-ad72-4d12-bd3f-29f088212b98/GiovannisRoomNov13-2021_1250x952.jpg Gallery Signing Kiss the Scars for a fan at the iconic Giovanni's Room bookstore in Philadelphia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/049f9fe6-ead3-473a-a772-4bbb97f582f8/IPPY.jpg Gallery Kiss the Scars was awarded a silver medal from the Independent Book Publisher Awards in the LGBT fiction category. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/3fc18aa7-e978-4178-9b3c-958539989c74/Joe-Matthew-Clark-Davison.jpg Gallery Joe with Matthew Clark Davison, author of the novel Doubting Thomas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/30c8bcae-e6d7-4f77-96d1-99455a69427e/Joe-EdgarGomez-Ptown-BookFest.jpg Gallery Chatting with Edgar Gomez, author of High-Risk Homosexual, at the P-town Book Festival. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/fcef8ea0-bd42-42bd-97b7-36ceb5b5cdd6/Joe-Website-Contemplative.png Gallery Contemplative. https://www.joeokonkwo.com/press-kit daily 0.75 2022-09-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1616113652750-U5CH5H6ZIFBEW5GFOLNL/Joe-Website-Press-Kit-1.jpg Press Kit Photo Credit: Tymel Young | Details: JPG Image, 3000 x 2000, 1.41 MB To save, click the photo, then right-click after it opens in the new window and choose “save as” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/12ceeedd-b0ef-4620-a6cc-20be6ba528d3/Joe-Website-Press-Kit-2.jpg Press Kit Photo Credit: Tymel Young | Details: JPG Image, 3000 x 2000, 1.4 MB To save, click the photo, then right-click after it opens in the new window and choose “save as” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1616114239690-WKI6VIL2W6UVPWD6R6R3/Joe-Website-Press-Kit-3.jpg Press Kit Photo Credit: Tymel Young | Details: JPG Image, 3000 x 2000, 1.31 MB To save, click the photo, then right-click after it opens in the new window and choose “save as” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1598122059473-Z2B18GF6BRSGU0C7DCR4/KissTheScars_Okonkwo_HighRes.jpg Press Kit Cover Design: Ann McMan | Details: JPG Image, 1725 x 2625, 1.65 MB To save, click the picture, then right-click when it opens in the new window. https://www.joeokonkwo.com/media daily 0.75 2023-04-16 https://www.joeokonkwo.com/kiss-the-scars daily 0.75 2023-07-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1613084112839-IHNMB1OOX0DW9IEZJSBM/Scars-Cover-Final-Lower-Res.jpg Kiss the Scars - #KissTheScars The eclectic stories in this collection are bound by the threads of desire in its many forms, above all, the desire for love and a place of safety in world where being Black and gay can thwart the fulfillment of that longing. The characters are complex, driven, difficult, and even, at times, unsympathetic, but always compelling. A proud Black woman who escaped her rural, impoverished town returns after the collapse of her marriage and faces the scorn of those she left behind. A middle-aged gay man finds his loneliness temporarily relieved by the arrival of a stray cat. An unhappily married woman becomes enmeshed in her bisexual husband’s attempt to create a ménage à trois with a much younger man. A 16-year-old boy discovers the power of his sexuality when he embarks upon a dangerous seduction. Two Black men, one mature and rich, the other young and struggling, are drawn into a contentious affair by their shared love of opera. The legendary blues singer Glady Bentley crashes up against the barriers of race and gender when she gets caught up in a police raid. Kiss the Scars on the Back of My Neck is a masterful collection of original stories by a gifted writer just beginning to hit his stride. It was named a 2022 Silver Medalist by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. https://www.joeokonkwo.com/kiss-the-scars-playlist daily 0.75 2024-05-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef7633e18f208189eee358f/1613675163057-3QKFQUAYCA4XGUW1LPEH/RomareBearden-JazzVillage.jpg Kiss the Scars Playlist - Kiss the Scars: A Playlist Music plays a key supporting role in Joe Okonkwo’s story collection, Kiss the Scars on the Back of My Neck. The abundant musical references illuminate characters’ emotions and define the historical eras in which the stories are set. This playlist—as wide-ranging as the collection—swings eclectically from jazz to opera, from disco to symphonies, and from 1980s pop to 19th Century French chansons. Enjoy. Painting: Jazz Village by Romare Bearden https://www.joeokonkwo.com/gladys daily 0.75 2021-05-21 https://www.joeokonkwo.com/favorite-artist-quotes daily 0.75 2024-02-06