American fiction writer (born 1950s)
Cheryl A. Head |
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 Cheryl Head, 2023 Literary Hill Book Fest |
| Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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| Alma mater | Wayne State University
Ohio University |
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| Genre | Fiction, Historical fiction, mystery, Crime fiction |
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| Literary movement | Civil rights, human rights, queer fiction |
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| Notable awards | Golden Crown Literary Society’s Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, Alice B Readers Award Medal, Independent Publisher Book Awards |
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| www.cherylhead.com |
Cheryl A. Head is an American author, television producer, organizer, and former broadcast executive. She is also the author of the award-winning Charlie Mack Motown mysteries, whose female PI protagonist is queer and Black. Head is an Anthony Award nominee, a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, a three-time Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist, and winner of the Golden Crown Literary Society's Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. Her books are included in the Detroit Public Library's African American Booklist and in the Special Collections of the Library of Michigan.[1] In 2019, Head was named to the Hall of Fame of the New Orleans Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, and she was awarded the Alice B Reader Award in 2022.[2]
Personal life
Head was born in Detroit, Michigan, and lived with her parents and siblings until adulthood. She attended Wayne State University, intending to focus on pre-law, but was “bitten by the media bug” and shifted to Media and Communications. Head worked at television stations: WDIV and Detroit Public Television (WTVS), and public radio station WDET. She received a master's degree in telecommunications management at Ohio University. She moved to Washington, DC, in the 1990s to work in public broadcasting. After working as a TV and radio field reporter, anchor, production executive, media grantmaker at several organizations in Detroit and Washington, DC, Head retired early to focus on a writing career.[3]
Head's work includes: The Charlie Mack Motown Series, a World War II historical novel, and a novel based upon the tragic loss of Head's grandfather who died in 1929 at the hands of the police.[4] That book, Time’s Undoing, was a 2023 Indie Next pick, an Amazon Best Book of March, and Amazon Editors Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense.[5]
Select interviews/podcasts
Scrawl Space – Interview with Cheryl A. Head: Author of riveting mysteries, champion of diversity (in fiction and beyond)[6]
Literary Hill – Q & A With “Warn Me When It’s Time” Author Cheryl A. Head
[7]
Books Are Magic – Time's Undoing with Cheryl A. Head[8]
Authors on the Air – Time's Undoing[9]
Thoughts from a Page – Time's Undoing[10]
BCPL – Interview conducted at the Creatures, Crimes, & Creativity Con with Cheryl Head[11]
Write-minded Podcast – Cheryl A. Head: How We Can Reclaim Our Stories Through Fiction[12]
Wicked Authors – A Wicked Welcome to Cheryl Head[13]
Crime Writers of Color – Cheryl Head and Time's Undoing with Robert Justice[14]
