A Notebook on the Work of Colson Whitehead

I've been actively following Colson Whitehead's work for more than 10 15 20 years now, after someone hipped me to his work when I was a graduate student. In recent years, I've published a couple of essays about his writing and started blogging about his work and reception.

[Related: Colson Whitehead books]

He is the author of The Intuitionist (1999), John Henry Days (2001),  The Colossus of New York (2003), Apex Hides the Hurt (2006), Sag Harbor (2009), Zone One (2011), The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death (2014), The Underground Railroad (2016), and The Harlem Shuffle (2021).

2023

• July 16: Coverage of Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto

2022

• August 5: Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad (podcast)

• March 20: Pre-publication Coverage of Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto

2021

• October 30: Colson Whitehead discusses Harlem Shuffle in St. Louis

• September 30: A few notes on Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle

• September 11: Coverage of Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

• June 1: Colson Whitehead and The Nickel Boys in Context (Edwardsville Public Library)

• June 3: Colson Whitehead and productivity

• June 3: MLK, Malcolm, The Nickel Boys, and creative inspiration 

2020
• May 8: Twenty years of studying works by Colson Whitehead

2019
• September 28: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Colson Whitehead, and Remarkable Receptions
• June 27: Coverage of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
• February 1: Colson Whitehead and Contemporary Black Book History

2017
• October 3: Preparing to read Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates with collegiate black men
• April 1: The incredible reach of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad

2016
• December 28: Best idea in 2016 African American fiction: A real underground railroad
• November 20: Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad: A Timeline 
• October 26: Colson Whitehead & Kevin Young autograph an early work  
• September 16: What Colson Whitehead does after autographing over 100 books
• September 16: Colson Whitehead reads from newest novel in St. Louis 
• September 4: A checklist on Colson Whitehead's impulse for creativity  
• September 3: Brief Reflections on Colson Whitehead's 8 Books 
• August 29: Divergent receptions: Ta-Nehisi Coates & Colson Whitehead  
• August 7: A print-only excerpt from Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad in the New York Times
• August 4: Toni Morrison & Ta-Nehisi Coates, then Oprah Winfrey & Colson Whitehead: Notes on Book History
• August 3: The Coverage of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad 
• May 29: Black men writers and creativity, 1995 - 2016
• May 15: The pre-publication of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad
• March 19: The curious minds of Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates
• February 6: Colson Whitehead: The art of thinking with metaphors

2015
• July 11: Pre-publication activities: Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates  

2014
• May 9: Covering a "gifted" writer: Colson Whitehead and His Reviewers
• May 7: Colson Whitehead's The Noble Hustle
• May 5: Coverage of Colson Whitehead's Noble Hustle
• November 19: Zone One's narrator vs. Connecticut
• June 27: World War Z and the Return of Colson Whitehead's Zone One
• June 19: Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead & Big Data
• April 29: A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997 
• March 21: Notes on the creative domains of Coates, McGruder, Whitehead & Young
• March 15: NYC as Colson Whitehead's Muse & Canvas
• March 14: Colson Whitehead's book publications

2012
• December 15: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Aaron McGruder, Colson Whitehead, Kevin Young & Hip Hop Aesthetics  
• October 20: Colson Whitehead's other scary novel
• August 26: What the "best [black] writer of a generation" tag means
• August 25: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Colson Whitehead, and support for "sprawling" black writing
• August 10: The Distance between Toni Morrison and Colson Whitehead HBW blog
• July 15: Where you stay: Colson Whitehead & the Matter of Where Novelists Live
• July 7: Toward a sociology of conversations about creativity & intellectualism among black men
• April 27: Kevin Young, Colson Whitehead & Lovejoy Library
• February 27: Colson Whitehead: The Novelist as Idea Factory
• January 29: Black Boys and the Golden Age of Hip Hop
• January 24:  Zombie movies, black boys & imagination
• January 23: Black Boys, Imagination, and Star Wars

2011
• December 21: The Case for Colson Whitehead's Zone One in 2011 
• October 19: Publishing Books, Extending Conversations: C. Whitehead, R. Kennedy
• October 14: Colson Whitehead, zombies, and afrofuturism  HBW blog
• October 13: Top 10 list for Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist  HBW blog
• October 12: The Coverage of.... Zone One By Colson Whitehead HBW blog
• October 11: Colson Whitehead & the Upper Floors  HBW blog
• October 10: Colson Whitehead, Zone One, and Publishing History HBW blog
• September 10: Covers for Apex Hides the Hurt
• August 23: The ongoing pre-publication buzz for Zone One
• July 22: The Novelist as Sports Writer & Blues Writer: Colson Whitehead
• July 3: "Last Night" (excerpt from Zone One) by Colson Whitehead
• May 25: Big Publishers, ARCs, and the promotion of a Black Writer
• May 20: Four Contemporary Black Male Writers & Their Fathers
• April 26: How Major Writers Become Legendary on Twitter
• March 31: Colson Whitehead Novel on Twitter
• February 1: The Early Buzz on Colson Whitehead's Newest Novel
• January 5: What Will Black Writing Be?

2010
• November 1: Top 10 Reasons for Re-Reading The Intuitionist
• November 1: Lila Mae, the Black Nerd 
• February 25: Whitehead Finalist for PEN/Faulkner Award

2009
• December 2: Société post-raciale? "C'est stupide."
• November 8: Colson Whitehead & Twitter
• June 22: More on Whitehead Reviews
• May 3: Reviewing Colson Whitehead’s Reviews

Related:
• An Extended Notebook on the works of writers & artists