Getting to Know Walter Mosley, NH Book Festival’s 2025 Keynote Author
Walter Mosley is familiar to many readers for his series of historical crime novels about detective Easy Rawlins, a private investigator living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. But did you know that Walter Mosley has written over 60 books in a variety of genres: literary and science fiction, young adult fiction, and nonfiction political monographs. His first novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, was adapted into the 1995 movie starring Denzel Washington, and in 2020 Mosley received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, making him the first Black man to receive the honor.
Although he was born and raised in Los Angeles, Mosley attended Goddard College in Vermont, and after a self-described “long-haired Hippie stage,” eventually earned a political science degree from Johnson State College (now part of Vermont State University). He moved to New York City in 1981, and while working for Mobil Oil, took a writing course at City College in Harlem. One of his tutors, Irish novelist Edna O’Brien, became a mentor.
Mosley says he has written every day since he was in his thirties, and his prolific pen sometimes produces two books per year. He has also composed and staged several plays, including The Fall of Heaven, based upon his Tempest Landry stories.
Although he was born and raised in Los Angeles, Mosley attended Goddard College in Vermont, and after a self-described “long-haired Hippie stage,” eventually earned a political science degree from Johnson State College (now part of Vermont State University). He moved to New York City in 1981, and while working for Mobil Oil, took a writing course at City College in Harlem. One of his tutors, Irish novelist Edna O’Brien, became a mentor.
Gray Dawn, the latest book in Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series, makes its debut on September 16, just weeks before his keynote address at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Friday, October 3. In this new release:
Detective Easy Rawlins has settled into the happy rhythm of his new life when a dark siren from his past returns and threatens to destroy the peace he’s fought for. A number of below-the-law powerbrokers plead with Easy to locate a mysterious, dangerous woman—Lutisha James, though she’s gone by another name that Easy will immediately recognize. 1970s Los Angeles is a transient city of delicate, violent balances, and Lutisha has disturbed that. She also has a secret that will upend Easy’s own life, painfully closer to home.
Help us kick off the 2025 New Hampshire Book Festival with Walter Mosley’s keynote on October 3! He’ll be in conversation with bestselling suspense author Hank Phillipi Ryan—a conversation that’s sure to enthrall!
Tickets for the Walter Mosley keynote event on October 3 are now available, and include a hardcover copy of Gray Dawn.