RF: You’re in LA now during the pandemic? You have a place in Brooklyn also but you’re out there for a while? Walter Mosley, thank you so much for coming on the CUNYcast and congratulations on this great honor from the National Book Foundation. I talked with Mosley about his life, his work, race, politics, and City College. Mosley’s life as a writer was born at CUNY, nurtured by faculty mentors and led him to establish a publishing certificate program at CCNY to open doors for minorities in an industry long known for its lack of diversity. Mosley is the first African American man to win the lifetime achievement honor from the organization that presents the National Book Awards. And this month, the National Book Foundation is awarding him its Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. More than 60 books later, Mosley is among the country’s literary masters.

Just three years later, even before earning his degree, Mosley published his debut novel, “Devil in a Blue Dress,” the bestseller that would later be made into a movie starring Denzel Washington. Rick Firstman: Walter Mosley was in his mid 30s when he enrolled in the graduate writing program at The City College of New York in 1987. Watch his award acceptance below.ĬUNY Congratulates Walter Mosley on NBF HonorĪbout the City College Publishing Certificate Program It’s a career that includes founding a program at CCNY to open doors for minorities in publishing, an industry long known for its lack of diversity. We talked with Mosley about his life, his work and his decades-long bond with CUNY. Doctorow and Norman Mailer-honors a literary career born and nurtured at CUNY. The lifetime achievement award-whose previous recipients include Toni Morrison, Edmund White, E.L. Three decades and 60 books later, Mosley has received the National Book Foundation’s 2020 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Just three years later–while still a student–he published “Devil in a Blue Dress,” the debut novel that established him as a new force in American fiction. Walter Mosley was a 35-year-old computer programmer when he enrolled in the graduate writing program at City College in 1987. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Black betty walter mosley summary