Brontez Purnell
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan
Brontez is a zine-maker, punk drummer, choreographer, and author of The Nightlife of Jacuzzi Gaskett, the 2017 novel Since I Laid My Burden Down, a graphic novel, and a novella. Purnell is also the frontman for the band the Younger Lovers, the co-founder of the Brontez Purnell Dance Company, the creator of Fag School, and the director of several short films, music videos, and documentaries. Originally from Alabama, he lives in Oakland, California.
Available to speak on punk music, zine-making, experimental art forms, filmmaking
Praise and Awards
“Most children’s books show one version of a family: a mom, a dad, stories and kisses at bedtime. The Nightlife of Jacuzzi Gaskett shows kids that there are other ways to live and grow and love your family.” —RACHEL AIMEE, Drag Queen Story Hour
"More layered insight than the page count should allow." —MTV NEWS
"A rich tapestry of intense character study." —ART IN AMERICA MAG
"One of the most unflinching and bone-true things you’ll read all year.” —FICTION ADVOCATE
"Purnell is never careful, never evasive. He hits you with honesty, passion, painful humor and never stops.” —MIKE ALBO, author of Hornitio
2018 Whiting Award winner for fiction
T: New York Times Style Magazine: 32 Black Male Writers for Our Time
Books
The Nightlife of Jacuzzi Gaskett
At night, Jacuzzi is real busy. He cares for his baby brother Jamaal, makes a blender cyclone, ponders life, and waits for Mama's arrival home. The first children's book from multi-genre artist Brontez Purnell is an inspired portrayal of a common but rarely narrated childhood experience—taking care of a younger sibling.