Jamel Brinkley, Teacher of English from 2009-2013, has been awarded a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction. The Guggenheim Fellowship was established in 1925 for individual writers, scholars, and artists who have demonstrated “exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts and exhibit great promise for their future endeavors.”

Jamel is the author of Witness: Stories, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. His book A Lucky Man: Stories was a finalist for the National Book Award, among others. Jamel is an assistant professor at the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa.

For a complete list of the 2024 Guggenheim Fellows, visit: https://www.gf.org/announcements/

Jamel Brinkley, Upper School Teacher of English from 2009-2013, has a story, "Comfort," featured online in the summer 2020 issue of Ploughshares, an award-winning journal of new writing. He is the author of the acclaimed short story collection A Lucky Man, the recipient of numerous honors including the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Fiction, and a finalist for the 2019 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction.

Jamel Brinkley left Trinity at the end of the school year to attend the Iowa Writer's Workshop. During the end-of-year luncheon, Upper School Principal Jessica Bagby gave these remarks: "Jamel, as both English teacher and English chair you have deeply enriched our common life. We are thrilled for the opportunity you have to pursue your calling at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. We hope you won’t be a stranger and that you will let us know, despite your signature modesty, when we can expect to see your name in print. Thank you for your contributions to our community."