Colson Whitehead’s novels explore a world fractured by consumerism and racism. His first work, The Intuitionist (1998), followed an elevator inspector who sensed malfunctions with keen extrasensory perception. Whitehead’s next book, John Henry Days (2001) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Other works include The Colossus of New York (2003), a post-9/11 meditation on the hope and resilience of New York City, and his latest, Apex Hides the Hurt (2006), about a “nomenclature” consultant hired to re-name a city.

Whitehead received a 2002 MacArthur “genius grant,” and the foundation called him “a bold experimental writer whose social and philosophical themes speak to the heart of American society.” Whitehead’s articles about music and television have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Spin and Village Voice. Underwritten by Catlin Gabel School.

Photo credit: Mark Lacy, University of Houston