Hilton Als facts for kids

Hilton Als, born in 1960, is a well-known American writer and critic. He writes about theater and many other topics. He teaches writing at universities like Columbia University. He also works as a staff writer and theater critic for The New Yorker magazine. Before that, he wrote for The Village Voice and was an editor at Vibe magazine.

About Hilton Als

Hilton Als grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City. His family has roots in Barbados. He has four older sisters and one younger brother.

His 1996 book, The Women, is about important people in his life. It talks about his mother, who raised him in Brooklyn. It also features Dorothy Dean and Owen Dodson, who was a mentor to Als. His 2013 book, White Girls, explores ideas about identity through essays. These essays cover many subjects, including the life and work of Richard Pryor.

Als has received many honors for his writing. In 2000, he earned a Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing. He also won the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism in 2002–03. In 2004, he received the Berlin Prize. This award allowed him to live and work in Berlin for six months.

Besides teaching at Columbia University, he has taught at other colleges. These include Smith College, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, and Yale University. His writing has also appeared in magazines like The Nation, The Believer, and the New York Review of Books.

Art Exhibitions

Hilton Als is also an art curator. This means he helps put together art shows. In 2015, he curated a group show called Forces in Nature. This exhibition featured works by artists like Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Kara Walker.

More recently, he curated an exhibition about the portrait artist Alice Neel. This show was called Alice Neel, Uptown. It featured her work from her time in Manhattan. The exhibition was shown at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York City and the Victoria Miro Gallery in London in 2017.

Awards and Recognition

Hilton Als has received many awards for his excellent writing and criticism:

• 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism) shortlist for White Girls
• 2016 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Nonfiction)
• 2016 Pulitzer Prize (Criticism)
• 2017 Langston Hughes Medal, City College of New York
• 2018 Honorary Doctorate, The New School
• 2024 Honorary Doctorate, Syracuse University

In June 2020, Queerty magazine named him one of fifty heroes. This was in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade. He was recognized for helping lead the nation toward equality and acceptance for all people.

See also

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT writers
• List of LGBT people from New York City
• NYC Pride March