Ravi Howard is an American novelist [1] and a professor at Florida State University. [2] His first novel Like Trees, Walking was published in 2007 and inspired by the lynching of Michael Donald. [3] In 2008, Howard was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. [4] His second novel, Driving the King, was published in 2014 and is about the friendship between Nat King Cole and his friend Nat Weary. [5] In The New York Times, critic Janet Maslin called Driving the King "a thoroughly convincing story" and a "warmly enveloping book." [6] In 2021, Howard's short story "The Good Thief," originally published in Alabama Noir, was included in the anthology Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. [7]
During his time in television, he won a Sports Emmy Award for writing for the show Inside the NFL . [8]