Brontez Purnell
{{Short description|American writer, musician, dancer, and director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brontez Purnell
| image = Brontez Purnell 2018.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Purnell at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|July 2, 1982}}
| birth_place = Triana, Alabama, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Author, musician, dancer
| years_active = 2003–present
| known_for =
| notable_works = Since I Laid My Burden Down
| awards = 2018 Whiting Award
}}
Brontez Purnell (born July 2, 1982){{Cite news |last=Ramírez |first=Juan A. |date=2022-06-15 |title=Brontez Purnell Brings His Disparate Parts Back to the Dance Stage |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/arts/dance/brontez-purnell-dance.html |access-date=2023-09-14 |issn=0362-4331}} is an American writer, musician, dancer, and director based out of Oakland, California.{{Cite web|url=http://visualaids.org/artists/detail/brontez-purnell|title=Brontez Purnell|website=Visualaids.org|language=en|access-date=2018-07-31}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/interviews/naked-soap-operas-an-interview-with-brontez-purnell/|title=Naked Soap Operas: An Interview with Brontez Purnell - Art in America|work=Artinamericamagazine.com|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en-US}} He is the author of several award-winning books, including Since I Laid My Burden Down (2017),{{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/3021634/brontez-purnell-burden-book-review/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623083313/http://www.mtv.com/news/3021634/brontez-purnell-burden-book-review/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 23, 2017|title=The Truth at the Heart of Brontez Purnell's Since I Laid My Burden Down|work=MTV News|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en}} 100 Boyfriends (2022), which won a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction,{{Cite web |title=2022 Winners |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/2022-winners/ |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=Lambda Literary |language=en}} and the punk zine Fag School.{{Cite web|url=http://read.tidal.com/article/im-in-the-band-episode-2-brontez-purnell|title='I'm in the Band' Ep. 2: Brontez Purnell Talks Growing Up Black, Gay & Punk|website=read.tidal.com|access-date=2018-07-31}} Purnell is the frontman for the punk band The Younger Lovers and is the founder of the Brontez Purnell Dance Company.{{Cite news|url=https://granta.com/brontez-purnell-is-everything/|title=Brontez Purnell Is Everything|date=2017-07-05|work=Granta Magazine|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Purnell grew up in Triana, Alabama. His great-grandfather, "Hard Rock" Charlie Malone, an accomplished bottleneck guitarist who played the Chitlin' Circuit from Chattanooga to Chicago in the 1930s, was the father of the musician J.J. Malone.{{Cite web|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pk0mzk/|title=Guide to the J.J. Malone Audiovisual Collection|website=Oac.cdlib.org|access-date=2023-08-06}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/magazine/lady-wray-breakup-song.html|title=I've Listened to This Breakup Song a Million Times|website=The New York Times|date=August 1, 2023|access-date=2023-08-06}} Purnell created his first zine, Schlepp Fanzine, at the age of 14.{{Cite news|url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/interviews/01/02/brontez-purnell-love-compassion-and-rock-roll/|title=Brontez Purnell: Love, Compassion, and Rock & Roll|last=Miles|first=Frank J|date=2012-01-02|work=Lambda Literary|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en-US}}
Work
After moving to Oakland at 19,{{Cite news|url=https://melmagazine.com/brontez-purnell-is-the-legendary-queer-punk-rocker-and-hysterical-author-whose-book-you-need-to-aa3e52be973c|title=The Legendary Queer Punk Rocker and Hysterical Author Whose Book You Need to Read|date=2017-10-10|work=MEL Magazine|access-date=2018-07-31}} he created Fag School out of "wanting there to be a Sassy for gay boys." "I hadn't really seen a zine or at least a personal gay zine that dealt with the difficult subject of gay sex with both humor and frank talk. It covered some real issues."
His electro rock band Gravy Train!!!! gained national prominence for their live shows.{{Cite news|url=https://www.colorlines.com/articles/five-reasons-love-brontez-purnell-and-younger-lovers|title=Five Reasons to Love Brontez Purnell and The Younger Lovers|date=2013-12-03|work=Colorlines|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en}} His punk band The Younger Lovers started in 2003 as a bedroom demo project.{{Cite news|url=http://afropunk.com/2017/04/video-premiere-punk-band-the-younger-lovers-gives-a-triumphant-fun-and-trippy-ode-to-the-working-class-with-whiskey-and-water/|title=VIDEO PREMIERE: Punk band The Younger Lovers gives a triumphant, fun (and trippy) ode to the working class with "Whiskey And Water" |date=2017-04-18|website=Afropunk.com|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en-US}}
Purnell has created music under his own name since 2020. On July 19, 2023, Purnell released his solo album No Jack Swing.{{Cite web |title=No Jack Swing, by Brontez Purnell |url=https://brontez-purnell.bandcamp.com/album/no-jack-swing |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=Brontez Purnell |language=en}} When asked to describe the album, he said that "I [...] allowed myself to just be a pretty Black boy making a pop record—and like, why the fuck shouldn't I?"{{Cite web |title=Suki Waterhouse, Brontez Purnell, Cautious Clay, and More on the Music That Fuels Them |url=https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2023/08/25/suki-waterhouse-brontez-purnell-cautious-clay |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=www.culturedmag.com |language=en}}
Awards
In 2018, Purnell was awarded a Whiting Award for fiction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/21/2018-whiting-awards-brontez-purnell-fiction/|title=Brontez Purnell, Fiction|last=Purnell|first=Brontez|date=2018-03-21|website=The Paris Review|language=en|access-date=2018-07-31}}
In 2022, Purnell was awarded the Robert Rauschenberg Award for Performance Art/Theater,{{Cite web |title=Brontez Purnell {{!}} FCA Grant Recipient |url=https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/brontez-purnell/ |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org}} and the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction.{{Cite web |title=MCD {{!}} Brontez Purnell Wins the Lambda Award! |url=https://www.mcdbooks.com/news/brontez-lammy-1 |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=MCD |language=en}}
On June 1, 2021, he was named a winner of the Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize from the Lambda Literary Foundation.Leah Rachel Van Essen, [https://bookriot.com/2021-lambda-literary-awards/ "Announcing The Winners of the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards"]. Book Riot, June 2, 2021.
Themes
Much of his work focuses on sex and sexuality. "In my work I try to use 'sex' or the body as this thing that does not create boundaries or separation with an audience, but instead gives my audience back their humanity."{{Cite web|url=https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/brontez-purnell-on-doing-as-much-as-possible/|title=Brontez Purnell on Doing as Much as Possible|website=thecreativeindependent.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31}} He is gay.
Bibliography
- The Cruising Diaries (2014)
- Johnny Would You Love Me if My Dick Were Bigger (2015)
- Since I Laid My Burden Down (2017)
- 100 Boyfriends (2021){{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=100 Boyfriends|url=https://www.fsgoriginals.com/books/100-boyfriends-1690eec1-f827-4e41-b862-63ac5d919886|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929193036/https://www.fsgoriginals.com/books/100-boyfriends-1690eec1-f827-4e41-b862-63ac5d919886 |archive-date=2020-09-29 |access-date=2020-12-10|website=FSG Originals}}
- 10 Bridges I've Burnt (2024)
References
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Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:African-American LGBTQ people
Category:American gay musicians
Category:American punk rock musicians
Category:Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners
Category:LGBTQ people from Alabama