Reed Farrel Coleman

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Reed Farrel Coleman
Reed Farrell Coleman.jpg
Coleman at the Left Coast Crime in Denver, Colorado in April 2008
Born (1956-03-29) March 29, 1956 (age 68)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameTony Spinosa
OccupationPoet, crime fiction writer
NationalityAmerican
GenreCrime fiction
Years active1991 to present
Notable worksMoe Prager series
Notable awards Anthony (2006)
Audie (2013)
Barry (2006)
Macavity (2010)
Shamus (2006, 2008, 2009)
SpouseRosanne
ChildrenKaitlin, Dylan
Website
reedcoleman.com

Reed Farrel Coleman (born March 29, 1956) is an American writer of crime fiction and a poet.

Contents

Life and career

Reed Farrel Coleman, the youngest of three boys, was born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. As a teenager, he heard a shot while walking to work, and saw a man lying in the street with a fatal stomach wound. That is when he realized, "People do get hurt." He started writing in high school. He has worked at an ice cream store, in air freight at Kennedy Airport, as a car leasing agent, in baby food sales, cooking at a restaurant, as a cab driver, and delivering home heating oil. Coleman met his wife Rosanne at The New School in a writing class. They have two children, Kaitlin and Dylan. He now lives on Long Island. [1] [2]

Coleman only considered making writing a career once taking a Brooklyn College detective fiction class. [2] He is a multiple award-winning author, particularly his Moe Prager series. Also published are series featuring protagonists Gulliver Dowd, Dylan Klein, and Joe Serpe. The Dowd character was based on a retired police detective that he had met. The Joe Serpe novels were originally written under the pen name Tony Spinosa, but are now available as Coleman titles. He has written the stand-alone novels Tower with Ken Bruen, Bronx Reqiem with Det. (ret.) John Roe of the NYPD, Gun Church, and several short stories, essays, and poems. Coleman has won Anthony, Audie, Barry, Macavity and Shamus Awards. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] His books and stories have additionally been nominated for Gumshoe and Edgar Awards. [8] [9] The books have been translated into seven languages. [10]

He considers William Blake, Lawrence Block, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett to be early influences. Later he found significance in the writing of colleagues Peter Blauner, Ken Bruen, Jim Fusilli, S.J. Rozan, and Peter Spiegelman. He says, though, that his single greatest writing influence was his college poetry professor, David Lehman, who provided "permission to be a writer and...the first clues on self-editing". [2] [11] NPR has referred to him as "a hard-boiled poet", HuffPost says, "Coleman is the resident noir poet laureate of the United States" and The New York Times has commented, "If you dragged one (of his books) across the asphalt, you'd half-expect it to leave a chalk outline". [1] [12] [13]

With a four-book contract, Coleman takes over writing Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series with the September 2014 publication of Blind Spot. He has also been signed to a two-book deal featuring retired Suffolk County (NY) cop turned PI Gus Murphy. [14] He is an adjunct instructor of English at Hofstra University, a former Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding member of Mystery Writers of America University.

Bibliography

Dylan Klein series

Moe Prager series

Joe Serpe series

(writing as Tony Spinosa)

Gulliver Dowd series

Gus Murphy series

Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone

Standalone novels

Essays and short stories

(a selection)

Fiction

  • "Portrait of the Killer As a Young Man"
    Dublin Noir: The Celtic Tiger Vs. the Ugly American, ed. Ken Bruen, Akashic Books, 2006, pp. 61–66. ISBN   978-1-888451-92-4
  • "Killing O'Malley" (as Tony Spinosa)
    Hardboiled Brooklyn, ed. Coleman, Bleak House, 2006, pp. 108–115. ISBN   1-932557-17-2
  • "Bat-Head Speed"
    These Guns for Hire, ed. by J. A. Konrath, Bleak House, 2006, pp. 299–306. ISBN   1-932557-20-2
  • "Another Role"
    Indian Country Noir, eds. Sarah Cortez & Liz Martínez, Akashic Books, 2010, pp. 214–238. ISBN   978-1-936070-05-3
  • "Mastermind" (fr. Long Island Noir, ed. K. Jones)
    USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series, ed. Johnny Temple, Akashic Books, 2013, pp 170–179. ISBN   978-1-61775-184-4
  • "The Terminal"
    Kwik Krimes, ed. Otto Penzler, Thomas & Mercer, 2013, pp. 93–96. ISBN   978-1612183008

Nonfiction

  • "Go East, Young Man: Robert B. Parker, Jesse Stone, and Spenser"
    In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, ed. Otto Penzler, BenBella Books, 2012, pp. 193–210. ISBN   978-1-935618-57-7
  • "Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell (1998)"
    Books to Die For, eds. John Connolly & Declan Burke, Hodder & Stoughton, 2012, pp. 649–654. ISBN   978-1-444-75650-0

Poetry

Awards

Anthony Award

Audie Award

Barry Award

Gumshoe Award

Edgar Award

Macavity Award

Shamus Award

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References

  1. 1 2 Wilson, Michael (May 15, 2006). "Reed Coleman Writes of Crime and Brooklyn". New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Reed Farrel Coleman". Heirloom Bookstore. 2007. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Anthony Award Nominees and Winners". Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Winners and Finalists". Audio Publishers Association. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Barry Awards". Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Macavity Awards". Mystery Readers International. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Shamus Award Winners". Private Eye Writers of America. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ Sobin, Roger M. (2007). The Essential Mystery Lists: For Readers, Collectors, and Librarians (2007 ed.). Poisoned Pen Press. p. 212. ISBN   978-1-59058-457-6.
  9. ↑ "Edgar Awards". Mystery Writers of America. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Reed Farrel Coleman". The Book Report. 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Reed Farrel Coleman". Beaks and Geeks Podcast @3:40. June 10, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  12. ↑ Corrigan, Maureen (May 14, 2009). "A Wise Guy Mystery Writer Makes Good". NPR. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  13. ↑ Pinter, Jason (October 6, 2010). "Books Uncovered - Indie Press Edition!". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ Deahl, Rachel (April 7, 2014). "Coleman to Handle Jesse Stone for Putnam". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Reed Farrel Coleman". Beaks and Geeks Podcast @9:20. June 10, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
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