Richie Narvaez

Richie Narvaez was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the bratty baby of the family. His father worked at at nights at JFK and during the day was a numbers bookie. Narvaez’s mother worked as a school nurse until she was laid off. Narvaez’s brother and sister gave him charley horses every chance they could, but frankly he enjoyed the attention. It was his brother’s interest in writing that sparked his own. And although he went to college with the intention of becoming the first Puerto Rican astronaut, he ended up becoming an English major. Narvaez received a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and attended the Humber School for Writers on a scholarship.

Narvaez has worked as a writer for most of his career, in print and online. He also taught at the high school and college levels — including at Columbia University, New Jersey City University, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Sarah Lawrence College. In 2013, he was elected to the board of Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter, and served as chapter president for two years. In 2018, he was appointed Bronx Council on the Arts Artist in Residence at the Morris Park Library in the Bronx, and he recently served as a judge for the 2019 PEN Open Book Awards.

His first book, Roachkiller and Other Stories, received the Spinetingler Award for Best Collection. His book Noiryoirican was nominated for an Anthony Award, and his book Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco received an Agatha Award and an Anthony Award.