Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of ten novels, including his 1999 debut The Intuitionist; The Underground Railroad (2016), for which he won the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; and The Nickel Boys, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction again in 2020, making him one of only four writers ever to win the prize twice. He has also published two books of nonfiction. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Fellowship.

Early life and education Whitehead was born in New York City on November 6, 1969, and grew up in Manhattan, New York. He is one of four children of successful entrepreneur parents, Arch and Mary Anne Whitehead, who owned an executive recruiting firm. As a child, Whitehead went by his first name, Arch. He later switched to Chipp, before switching to Colson. He attended Trinity School in New York City, New York. He graduated from Harvard University in 1991, where he studied English and Comparative Literature. In college, he became friends with poet Kevin Young.

Career After graduating from college, Whitehead wrote for The Village Voice. While working at the Voice, he began drafting his first novels.

Early in his career, Whitehead lived in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Whitehead has since produced 12 book-length works—ten novels and two nonfiction works, including a meditation on life in Manhattan in the style of E. B. White's famous 1949 essay Here Is New York. Whitehead's books are The Intuitionist (1999); John Henry Days (2001); The Colossus of New York (2003); Apex Hides the Hurt (2006); Sag Harbor (2009); 2011's Zone One, a New York Times bestseller; 2016's The Underground Railroad, which earned a National Book Award for Fiction; The Nickel Boys (2019); Harlem Shuffle (2021); and Crook Manifesto (2023). Esquire magazine named The Intuitionist the best first novel of the year, and GQ called it one of the "novels of the millennium".Updike, John (May 7, 2001), "Tote That Ephemera", The New Yorker. Novelist John Updike, reviewing The Intuitionist in The New Yorker, called Whitehead "ambitious", "scintillating", and "strikingly original", adding: "The young African-American writer to watch may well be a thirty-one-year-old Harvard graduate with the vivid name of Colson Whitehead."

The Intuitionist was nominated as the Common Novel at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The Common Novel nomination was part of a longtime tradition at the Institute that included such authors as Maya Angelou, Andre Dubus III, William Joseph Kennedy, and Anthony Swofford.

Whitehead's nonfiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Granta, and Harper's.

His non-fiction account of the 2011 World Series of Poker, The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death, was published by Doubleday in 2014.

Whitehead has taught at Princeton University, New York University, the University of Houston, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Wesleyan University. He has been a writer-in-residence at Vassar College, the University of Richmond, and the University of Wyoming.

In 2015, he joined The New York Times Magazine to write a column on language.

The Underground Railroad was a selection of Oprah's Book Club 2.0, and was chosen by President Barack Obama as one of five books on his summer vacation reading list.Malloy, Allie, "Obama summer reading list: 'The Girl on the Train'", CNN, August 12, 2016.Begley, Sarah, "Here’s What President Obama Is Reading This Summer", Time, August 12, 2016. In 2017, the novel was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Colson was honored with the 2017 Hurston/Wright Award for fiction presented by the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation."Colson Whitehead Honored Once Again for His Novel The Underground Railroad" , The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, October 25, 2017. The Underground Railroad won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Judges of the prize called the novel "a smart melding of realism and allegory that combines the violence of slavery and the drama of escape in a myth that speaks to contemporary America".

Whitehead's seventh novel, The Nickel Boys, was published in 2019. It was inspired by the story of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, where children convicted of minor offenses suffered violent abuse. In conjunction with its publication, Whitehead was featured on the cover Time magazine's July 8, 2019, edition, alongside the strap-line "America's Storyteller". The Nickel Boys won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Judges of the prize called the novel "a spare and devastating exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida that is ultimately a powerful tale of human perseverance, dignity and redemption". It was Whitehead's second win, making him the fourth writer to win the prize twice. In 2022, it was announced that Whitehead would executive produce the 2024 film adaptation of the same name.

Whitehead's eighth novel, Harlem Shuffle, was conceived and begun before he wrote The Nickel Boys. It is a work of crime fiction set in Harlem during the 1960s. Whitehead spent years writing it, and finished it in "bite-sized chunks" during the months he spent in quarantine in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Harlem Shuffle was published by Doubleday on September 14, 2021. Crook Manifesto, Whitehead's ninth novel and a follow-up to Harlem Shuffle, was published on July 18, 2023. Cool Machine, Whitehead's tenth novel and the conclusion to his "Harlem Trilogy," was published on July 21, 2026.

On July 31, 2026, Variety reported that Whitehead's "Harlem Trilogy" was in development at Apple TV, with Graham Yost and Aric Avelino adapting the books.

Personal life Whitehead lives in Manhattan and also owns a home in Sag Harbor on Long Island. His wife, Julie Barer, is a literary agent. They have two children.

Honors 2000: Whiting Award 2001: Awarded Residency at Ucross FoundationUcross Foundation. "Visual Arts Residencies" Residency Program. Retrieved June 25, 2026. 2002: MacArthur Fellowship Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2007: Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars Fellowship Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2012: Dos Passos Prize 2013: Guggenheim Fellowship Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2018: Harvard Arts Medal 2020: Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction 2023: National Humanities Medal Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2024: Langston Hughes Medal Retrieved 2026-05-06.

Literary awards Year Work Award Category Result Ref 2000 The Intuitionist PEN/Hemingway Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Whiting Awards Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2001 John Henry Days Los Angeles Times Book Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Salon Book Award Fiction 2002 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Pulitzer Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Young Lions Fiction Award Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06.2008Apex Hides the HurtPEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award— Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2010 Sag Harbor Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. PEN/Faulkner Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06. 2011 International Dublin Literary Award — Long Island Reads — Retrieved 2026-05-06.2012Zone OneHurston/Wright Legacy Award— 2016 The Underground Railroad Booklist Editors' Choice Adult Audio Retrieved 2026-05-06. Goodreads Choice Awards Historical Fiction 1st Kirkus Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. National Book Award Fiction 2017Andrew Carnegie Medals for ExcellenceFiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Arthur C. Clarke Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06.Audie Award Audiobook of the Year Retrieved 2026-05-14. Literary Fiction & Classics Female Narrator BCALA Literary Awards Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-14. Booker Prize — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards Novel Retrieved 2026-05-14. Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Clark Fiction Prize — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Dayton Literary Peace Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Indies Choice Book Awards Adult Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-14. John W. Campbell Memorial Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Locus Award Science Fiction Novel Retrieved 2026-05-06. NAACP Image Awards Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. PEN/Jean Stein Book Award — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Pulitzer Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. TCK Publishing Reader's Choice Award Novel 2018 International Dublin Literary Award — 2019 The Nickel Boys Foyles Books of the Year Fiction Goodreads Choice Awards Historical Fiction 2nd Kirkus Prize Fiction National Book Award Fiction National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction 2020 Alex Award — Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Fiction Aspen Words Literary Prize — Audie Award Male Narrator BCALA Literary Awards Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-07. BookTube Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-14. Dayton Literary Peace Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-06. Orwell Prize Political Fiction Pulitzer Prize Fiction The Writers' Prize — 2021 Lincoln Award — Retrieved 2026-05-14. Harlem Shuffle Booklist Editors' Choice Adult Audio Goodreads Choice Awards Mystery & Thriller 6th Hammett Prize — Retrieved 2026-05-06. Kirkus Prize Fiction National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction 2022 BookTube Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-14. Gotham Book Prize Fiction Macavity Award Mystery Novel NAACP Image Award Fiction New York City Book Award — 2024 Crook Manifesto Edgar Award Best Novel Retrieved 2026-05-12. Gotham Book Prize Fiction Retrieved 2026-05-12. Retrieved 2026-05-12.

Works

Fiction

The Harlem Trilogy

Non-fiction

Essays

Short stories

References

Further reading Elam, Michele. "Passing in the Post-Race Era: Danzy Senna, Philip Roth, and Colson Whitehead". African American Review, vol. 41, no. 4, 2007, pp. 749–68. . Fain, Kimberly (2015). Colson Whitehead: The Postracial Voice of Contemporary Literature. Rowman & Littlefield. Kelly, Adam (October 2018). "Freedom to Struggle: The Ironies of Colson Whitehead". Open Library of the Humanities. Maus, Derek C. (2021). Understanding Colson Whitehead, revised and expanded edition. University of South Carolina Press.

External links

Profile at The Whiting Foundation "What's in a Name?" On Point (interview, 2006-09-04) "The books of my life | Colson Whitehead: 'When I read Invisible Man I thought maybe there's room for a Black weirdo like me, The Guardian, April 14, 2023.