Thomas Chatterton Williams

This article is about the American writer. For the English poet, see Thomas Chatterton.

Thomas Chatterton Williams
Williams in 2020
Born	(1981-03-26) March 26, 1981 (age 44) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Critic, author
Alma mater	Georgetown University New York University
Subject	Race, identity
Years active	2007–present [1]
Notable works	Losing My Cool (2010) Self-Portrait in Black and White (2019)
Notable awards	Berlin Prize Guggenheim Fellow
Spouse	Valentine Faure [2]
Children	2
Website
thomaschattertonwilliams.com

Thomas Chatterton Williams (born March 26, 1981) ^[3] is an American cultural critic and writer. ^[1] He is the author of the 2019 book Self-Portrait in Black and White and a staff writer at The Atlantic . He is a visiting professor of the humanities and senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, and a 2022 Guggenheim fellow. Formerly, Williams was a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and an Easy Chair columnist for Harper's Magazine.

Early life and education

Thomas Chatterton Williams was born on March 26, 1981, ^[3] in Newark, New Jersey, ^[4] to a black father, Clarence Williams, and a white mother, Kathleen. ^{[2] [5]} Named after the English poet Thomas Chatterton, he was raised in Fanwood, New Jersey, ^[5] and attended Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains. ^[6] Williams graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He also completed a master's degree from New York University's Cultural Reporting and Criticism program. ^[1]

Career

In 2010, Williams released his first book, Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture. ^[7] The book is a coming-of-age memoir, mirroring Williams's childhood and adolescence in New Jersey to his father's experience in the segregated South. ^[8] The book combines Williams's personal history with his analysis of the effect of hip-hop culture on black youth. ^[9] In one passage, he describes physically assaulting his high school girlfriend and attributes his actions to the influence of hip hop's "pimpin'" culture. ^{[10] [11]}

Williams's second book, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race , was released in 2019. ^{[12] [13] [14]} Williams became a 2019 New America Fellow ^[15] and a Berlin Prize ^[16] recipient.

In 2020, Williams led the effort to write "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate", an open letter in Harper's Magazine signed by 152 public figures. It criticized what the letter argued was a culture of "intolerance of opposing views". ^[17]

In January 2024, Williams became a staff writer at The Atlantic. ^[18] He is also a visiting professor of the humanities and senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College. He was formerly a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine ^[19] and Harper's Magazine . ^[20]

In 2025, his third book, Summer of our Discontent, was published. ^[21]

Personal life

Williams married French journalist and author Valentine Faure in France in 2011. ^[2] He lives in Paris with Faure and their two children. ^[22]

Bibliography

• Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture . The Penguin Press. 2010. ISBN   978-1-59420-263-6.
• Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race . W. W. Norton & Company. 2019. ISBN   978-0-393-60886-1.
• Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. Alfred A. Knopf. 2025. ISBN   978-0-593-53440-3.

References

1. Thomas Chatterton Williams, Penguin Random House author page. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
2. Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 22, 2019). "Shades of Meaning". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 46–51, 56–57.
3. Boëton, Marie (August 24, 2021). "Thomas Chatterton Williams : "je reconnais l'existence du racisme, pas celle des races"" . La Croix (in French). Retrieved May 24, 2022.
4. Martin, Michel (June 15, 2010). "Father-Son Bond Inspires Memoir Of Love And Reflection". Tell Me More . NPR . Retrieved November 19, 2019.
5. Walsh, Jeremy (August 19, 2010). "Fanwood author finds father's voice leads him out of trouble". The Star-Ledger . NJ.com . Retrieved November 19, 2019.
6. Thomas Chatterton Williams (October 15, 2019). Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race. W. W. Norton. p. 41. ISBN   978-0-393-60887-8.
7. McKelvey, Tara (August 6, 2010). "Nonfiction Chronicle". The New York Times . Retrieved September 25, 2020.
8. "Stepping Away From Race: A Conversation With Thomas Chatterton Williams". Are We Europe. February 7, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
9. "It Does Stop: Thomas Chatterton Williams, 'Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture'". The Washington Post. May 4, 2010. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved July 31, 2025.
10. Anil, Pratinav (July 22, 2025). "Summer of Our Discontent by Thomas Chatterton Williams review – the liberal who hates leftists". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved July 28, 2025.
11. Williams, Thomas Chatterton (April 29, 2010). Losing My Cool: Love, Literature, and a Black Man's Escape from the Crowd. Penguin. ISBN   978-1-101-40434-8.
12. "Self-Portrait in Black and White". W. W. Norton & Company . Retrieved November 18, 2019.
13. Sewell, Summer (October 15, 2019). "Is it time to unlearn race? Thomas Chatterton Williams says yes". The Guardian . Retrieved November 18, 2019.
14. Friedersdorf, Conor (November 5, 2019). "Unraveling Race". The Atlantic . Retrieved November 18, 2019.
15. "Thomas Chatterton Williams". New America . Retrieved November 19, 2019.
16. "Announcing the 2017–18 Class of Berlin Prize Fellows". American Academy in Berlin . May 10, 2017. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
17. Schuessler, Jennifer; Harris, Elizabeth A. (August 10, 2020). "Artists and Writers Warn of an 'Intolerant Climate.' Reaction Is Swift". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
18. "The Atlantic Announces Christine Emba and Thomas Chatterton Williams as Staff Writers, and Robert Worth as a Contributing Writer". The Atlantic . January 3, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
19. Solomon, Andrew (October 14, 2019). "How Moving to France and Having Children Led a Black American to Rethink Race". The New York Times Book Review . Retrieved November 18, 2019.
20. Beha, Christopher (September 10, 2020). "The Letter and Its Discontents". Harper's Magazine. John R. MacArthur. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
21. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704632/summer-of-our-discontent-by-thomas-chatterton-williams/
22. Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 17, 2019). "My Family's Life Inside and Outside America's Racial Categories". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2019.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN