J. Malcolm Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Malcolm Garcia August 1, 1957 Winnetka, Illinois, United States |
| Occupation | Writer and journalist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Coe College (BA) |
| Genres | Narrative journalism |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
J. Malcolm Garcia (1 August 1957) is an American author, journalist, and social worker known for his narrative journalism on war, social justice, homelessness, and marginalized communities. [1]
Garcia was born in Winnetka, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to Charles Garcia and Leticia Cintron Ferrer Garcia. [1] He attended Ripon College from 1975 to 1977 before transferring to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he graduated in May 1979. While at Coe, he wrote for The Coe Cosmos newspaper and was active in college theatre. [1]
Before becoming a journalist, Garcia spent fourteen years as a social worker in Tenderloin, San Francisco, an experience that greatly influenced his later writing, particularly on issues of homelessness and social marginalization. [1]
Garcia transitioned into journalism in 1997 and worked for The Kansas City Star from 1998 to 2009 before embarking on a freelance writing career. The aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks led to a pivotal assignment covering Afghanistan, which shaped much of his reportage and later books. [1] Over the years, his journalism has taken him to Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Haiti, Honduras, Bolivia, Argentina, and other global conflict or post-conflict zones. [1] His reporting and essays have been published in a variety of outlets, including Guernica , Salon , and the Virginia Quarterly Review , among others. [1] His work has been anthologized in collections such as Best American Travel Writing, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and Best American Essays. [2]
Garcia's first published book was the memoir The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul, released by Beacon Press in 2009, chronicling his experiences as a journalist in Afghanistan. In an interview with The Massachusetts Review , Garcia expressed that his visit to the country in 2001 inspired him to write, initially because he "saw the restlessness of young men who had been pumped up with ideas of killing the enemy, only to find themselves sitting around base doing very little." [3]
On 2024, Garcia published his debut novel Out of the Rain, set in a San Francisco homeless shelter, blending fiction with his extensive social work experience, portraying the lives of homeless people and the social-service employees who serve them. [4] The novel was praised by William T. Vollmann who described it as "reminds [him] of György Konrád's great novella The Case Worker" and Dave Eggers as "continually astounding with his energy and empathy". [4] It was eventually shortlisted for the 2025 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. [5]
In recognition for both his journalistic excellence and literary contributions, he was awarded 2011 Sigma Delta Chi Award for his Magazine Writing entry Smoke Signals: They Survived Iraq—and Died at Home [6] and the 2012 Studs Terkel Award by the Working-Class Studies Association for his investigative article Smoke Screen. [7] In the publication of The Fruit of All My Grief, he was likened to the Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich for his narrative style. [8] In recent years, Garcia was named as an outside contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. [9]
Garcia currently resides in San Diego, California. [1]
Garcia is the author of numerous books spanning narrative nonfiction, memoir, reportage, and fiction. His major publications include:
Fiction
Non-fiction