Pete Hamill - Brooklyn Noir

Luciano Guerrierois the author of one novel, a noir thriller entitled The Spin , and has been a resident of Brooklyn or Manhattan for twenty-three years. While writing plays, screenplays, short stories and poetry during that time, he has also acted in or directed sixty-five plays and acted in twenty Hollywood and independent films.

Pete Hamillis for many the living embodiment of New York City. In his writing for the New York Times , the New York Daily News , the New York Post , the New Yorker , and Newsday , he has brought the city to life for millions of readers. He is the author of many bestselling books, including novels Forever and Snow in August , as well the memoir A Drinking Life. He lives in New York City.

Kenji Jasperwas born and raised in the nation’s capital and currently lives in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and has written articles for Savoy, Essence, VIBE , the Village Voice , the Charlotte Observer , and Africana.com. He is the author of three novels, Dark, Dakota Grand and the forthcoming Seeking Salamanca Mitchell.

Norman Kelleis the author of the “noir soul” Nina Halligan mystery series, which includes Black Heat, The Big Mango , and A Phat Death . He is also the author of Head Negro in Charge Syndrome , forthcoming from Nation Books, and he edited and contributed to R&B (Rhythm and Business): The Political Economy of Black Music (Akashic, 2002). He currently resides in Brooklyn.

Robert Knightlyis a trial lawyer in the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society. In another life, he was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department. This is his first published fiction, which is a piece of a first novel, Bodies in Winter He was born and raised in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the locale of the story.

Lou Manfredowas born and raised in Brooklyn. He is a former New York City public school teacher and legal investigator. The father of one daughter, Nicole, he currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, Joanne, and their long-haired dachshund. Mr. Manfredo recently completed his first novel.

Adam Mansbach,a resident of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, currently on sabbatical in Berkeley, California, is the author of two novels, Shackling Water and the forthcoming Angry Black White Boy , and the poetry collection genius b-boy cynics getting weeded in the garden of delights. The former editor of the hip hop journal Elementary , he serves as an Artistic Consultant to Columbia University’s Center for Jazz Studies and is a teacher for Youth Speaks.

Tim McLoughlinwas born and raised in Brooklyn, where he still resides. His debut novel, Heart of the Old Countr (Akashic, 2001), was a selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program and has been optioned for a film. It was also published last year in Great Britain and in Italy, where it won the 2003 Premio Penne award. He is completing his second novel.

Ellen Milleris the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller Like Being Killed. Her fiction and essays have appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies, most recently Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge. She has taught creative writing at New York University, the New School, and the women’s unit of a federal prison. She lives in New York City and is at work on her second novel

Thomas Morrisseyis an Army brat who grew up in exotic locations like Okinawa, Heidelberg, and Staten Island. He began writing when, as a child, he found great pleasure playing with his mother’s Sears portable typewriter. His first novel, Faustus Resurrectus , is on the way.

Arthur Nersesianis the author of six novels, including Suicide Casanova, Chinese Takeout, Unlubricated , and the cult classic bestseller The Fuck-Up . The former managing editor of the Portable Lower East Side , he currently lives in New York City.

Chris Nileswas born in New Zealand. In the last fifteen years she has lived in Australia, England, and Hungary. She now lives in Brooklyn and does not intend to move for a very long time. She is also the author of Hell’s Kitchen (Akashic, 2001), as well as a series of crime mysteries featuring radio reporter Sam Ridley: Spike It, Run Time , and Crossing Live.

Sidney Offitis a novelist, author of books for young readers, teacher, member of the board of the PEN American Center, president of the Authors Guild Foundation, and curator of the George Polk Journalism Awards that originate from Long Island University’s Brooklyn center. During the mid-fifties he covered the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and that other team from New York for Baseball Magazine. His most recent book is Memoir of the Bookie’s Son

Neal Pollackis the author of three books: the cult classic The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, Beneath the Axis of Evil , and the rock ’n’ roll novel Never Mind the Pollacks A regular contributor to Vanity Fair, GQ , and many other magazines, Pollack lives in Austin, Texas.

C.J. Sullivanlived in Brooklyn on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border for seven years and loved the neighborhood. He has worked as a Court Clerk in Brooklyn Supreme since 1994. He has also been a freelance writer for the last ten years. Sullivan has a regular column in the New York Press called “The Bronx Stroll.” He now lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey with his wife Lisa and his twin daughters, Olivia and Luisa.