Jervey Tervalon

Jervey Tervalon was born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles, and got his MFA in Creative Writing from UC Irvine. He is the author of six books including Understanding This, for which he won the Quality Paper Book Club’s New Voices Award. Currently he is the Executive Director of “Literature for Life,” an educational advocacy organization, and Creative Director of The Pasadena LitFest. His latest novel is Monster’s Chef.

Articles

The Good Mister Finn
Jervey TervalonAug 14, 2021
Anti-Self Destruction
Jervey TervalonAug 7, 2021
An Entertaining Hodgepodge: On “Odd Partners”
A showcase volume of new stories from the Mystery Writers of America.
Jervey TervalonApr 1, 2020
- Noir
Hereditary Cultural Burdens: Steph Cha’s “Your House Will Pay”
Jervey Tervalon appreciates the ambition of “Your House Will Pay,” a novel by Steph Cha that reckons with the legacy of 1992.
Jervey TervalonOct 15, 2019
- Fiction
- Noir
Amusements Among the Dead
"As a child I had an unhealthy attraction to the supernatural." Jervey Tervalon visits the Mountain View Mausoleum with his daughter.
Jervey TervalonOct 29, 2018
Adventures in Life and Food With JGold
Jervey Tervalon remembers his friend, the beloved Jonathan Gold.
Jervey TervalonJul 29, 2018
Katrina’s Bullets: Ronnie Greene on Police Violence
To read Ronnie Greene’s Shots on the Bridge in the time of Black Lives Matter is to confront rage.
Jervey TervalonAug 28, 2015
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
The Memory Hole Riot and Rodney King
Rest in Peace, Rodney.
Jervey TervalonJul 2, 2012
Mentors: Marvin Mudrick
I would not tear papers apart — say they're no good and say they don't work — unless I believed that all of you are capable of writing good fiction.
Bob Blaisdell, Jervey TervalonDec 30, 2011
Labor Power: "The Adventures of Unemployed Man"
An instructional manual on resisting oligarchic oppression, and a brief for the value of staying in shape to look your best in spandex.
Jervey TervalonSep 23, 2011