Walter Mosley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Walter Mosley
Mosley at the 2014 Texas Book Festival
Born	Walter Ellis Mosley (1952-01-12) January 12, 1952 (age 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Johnson State College (BA)
Occupation	Novelist
Notable work	Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
Spouse(s)	Joy Kellman (m. 1987; div. 2001)
Awards	National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Diamond Dagger, 2023

Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a famous American writer. He is best known for his exciting crime fiction novels. Many of his popular books feature a detective named Easy Rawlins. Easy Rawlins is a black private investigator who lives in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. In 2020, Mosley received a special award, the National Book Foundation Medal. This award recognized his important contributions to American literature. He was the first Black man to receive this honor.

About Walter Mosley's Life

Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Ella (née Slatkin), was Jewish. She worked as a personnel clerk. His father, Leroy Mosley, was African American. He worked as a custodian at a public school in Los Angeles. His parents tried to marry in 1951. Even though it was legal in California, they faced difficulties getting a marriage license.

Walter was an only child. He believes this made him use his imagination more. He attended a private African-American elementary school. This school taught pioneering classes in black history. When he was 12, his family moved to a different part of west LA. He finished high school in 1970. Walter describes his father as a deep thinker and a great storyteller. His mother encouraged him to read classic European books. He also enjoys books by Langston Hughes and Gabriel García Márquez.

Walter went through a "long-haired hippie" phase. He traveled around Santa Cruz and Europe. He studied political science at Johnson State College. After college, he started working as a computer programmer. In 1981, he moved to New York. He met and married Joy Kellman, a dancer, in 1987. They later divorced in 2001. While working, Mosley took a writing class. He was inspired by Alice Walker's book The Color Purple. One of his teachers, Edna O'Brien, encouraged him greatly.

Mosley still lives in New York City. He identifies as both African-American and Jewish. He feels strongly connected to both groups.

Walter Mosley's Writing Career

Mosley began writing when he was 34 years old. He says he has written every day since then. He has published over forty books. Sometimes, he publishes two books in one year. He writes in many different styles. These include mystery and afrofuturist science fiction. He also writes nonfiction about politics. His books have been translated into 21 languages.

His writing was inspired by authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Walter Mosley became even more famous in 1992. This was when presidential candidate Bill Clinton said Mosley was one of his favorite authors. In 1997, Mosley made a unique choice. He gave the manuscript for his book Gone Fishin' to a small, independent publisher. This publisher was Black Classic Press.

Mosley's first published book was Devil in a Blue Dress. This book was made into a movie in 1995. Denzel Washington starred in the film. The next year, a shorter version of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Mosley's first play, The Fall of Heaven, was performed in 2010.

Mosley has served on the board of directors for the National Book Awards. He is also on the board of the TransAfrica Forum. Some people have discussed whether Mosley should be called a "black author." Mosley prefers to be called a novelist. He explains that he wants to write about "black male heroes." He feels that not many writers focus on these characters.

In 2019, Mosley worked as a writer for the TV series Snowfall. Later, he was hired for Star Trek: Discovery. After three weeks, he learned of a complaint against him. This was because he used a sensitive word while telling a story about a police officer. CBS told him this was usually a reason for dismissal. However, they said no further action would be taken. They asked him not to use the word again outside of a script. Mosley decided to leave the series. He explained his decision in an article for The New York Times.

Awards and Honors

Walter Mosley has received many awards for his writing.

• 1996 – Literary Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association for RL's Dream
• 1996 – O. Henry Award for a Socrates Fortlow story
• 1998 – Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for works that help understand race in America
• 2001 – Grammy Award for Best Album Notes for Richard Pryor's …And It's Deep Too!
• 2004 – Honorary doctorate from the City College of New York
• 2005 – Risktaker Award from the Sundance Institute
• 2006 – First recipient of the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for his young adult novel 47
• 2007 – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction, for Blonde Faith
• 2009 – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction, for The Long Fall
• 2013 – Inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame
• 2014 – Langston Hughes Medal from the City College of New York
• 2016 – Named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America (see Edgar Award)
• 2019 – Edgar Award for Best Novel for Down the River Unto the Sea
• 2020 – National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
• 2021 – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, The Awkward Black Man
• 2023 – Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger – for lifetime achievement

Walter Mosley's Books and Works

Walter Mosley has written many books and other works.

Non-series Novels

• RL's Dream (1995)
• Blue Light (1998)
• Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World (2001)
• The Man in My Basement (2004)
• 47 (2005)
• The Wave (2006)
• Fortunate Son (2006)
• The Tempest Tales (2008)
• The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2010)
• Parishioner (2012)
• Odyssey (2013)
• Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore (2014)
• The Further Tales of Tempest Landry (2015)
• Inside a Silver Box (2015)
• John Woman (2018)
• The Awkward Black Man (2020), short stories
• Touched (2023)

Easy Rawlins Mysteries

• Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
• A Red Death (1991)
• White Butterfly (1992)
• Black Betty (1994)
• A Little Yellow Dog (1996)
• Gone Fishin' (1997)
• Bad Boy Brawly Brown (2002)
• Six Easy Pieces (2003)
• Little Scarlet (2004)
• Cinnamon Kiss (2005)
• Blonde Faith (2007)
• Little Green (2013)
• Rose Gold (2014)
• Charcoal Joe (2016)
• Blood Grove (2021)
• Farewell, Amethystine (2024)

Other Mystery Series

• Fearless Jones mysteries: Fearless Jones (2001), Fear Itself (2003), Fear of the Dark (2006)
• Leonid McGill mysteries: The Long Fall (2009), Known to Evil (2010), When the Thrill Is Gone (2011), All I Did Was Shoot My Man (2012), And Sometimes I Wonder About You (2015), Trouble Is What I Do (2020)
• Socrates Fortlow books: Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (1997), Walkin' the Dog (1999), The Right Mistake (2008)
• Crosstown to Oblivion: The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin (2012), Merge / Disciple (2012), Stepping Stone / The Love Machine (2013)
• King Oliver books: Down the River unto the Sea (2018), Every Man a King (2023), Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right (2025)

Graphic Novels

• Maximum Fantastic Four (2005, with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
• The Thing: The Next Big Thing (2022, with Tom Reilly)

Plays

• The Fall of Heaven (2011)
• Lift (2014)

Nonfiction Books

• Workin' on the Chain Gang: Shaking off the Dead Hand of History (2000)
• What Next: An African American Initiative Toward World Peace (2003)
• Life Out of Context (2006)
• This Year You Write Your Novel (2007)
• Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation (2011) ISBN: 978-1-56858-642-7
• Elements of Fiction (2019)

Films and Television Shows

• Fallen Angels: Fearless (1995) (TV)
• Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
• Always Outnumbered (1998) (TV)
• "Little Brother", episode of Masters of Science Fiction (2007) (TV)
• Snowfall (2018) (TV), consulting producer, episode writer
• Star Trek: Discovery (2019) (TV)
• The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022), executive producer
• Justified: City Primeval (2023) (TV), consulting producer

Images for kids

• 

  Mosley at the 2024 National Book Awards, introducing Paul Coates

See also

In Spanish: Walter Mosley para niños