Jamel Brinkley is an acclaimed American writer celebrated for his debut story collection, A Lucky Man (2018). This notable collection garnered numerous accolades, winning the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. It was also shortlisted for prestigious awards including the National Book Award, The Story Prize, the John Leonard Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.

Brinkley's formative years were spent in Brooklyn and the Bronx, New York. His commitment to the craft of writing is evident through his active participation as a Kimbilio Fellow and alumni of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop. He has received scholarships from the Napa Valley Writers' Conference, the Tin House Writers' Workshop, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. A proud graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Brinkley has also served as the 2016-17 Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. His literary works have been featured or are forthcoming in publications such as A Public Space and Gulf Coast. With his short story collection published by Graywolf Press, Brinkley continues his literary pursuit, currently working on a novel titled Night is One Long Everlasting.

In addition to his writing career, Brinkley imparts his knowledge and experience to budding writers as a faculty member teaching fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.