JASPER, Kenji (Nathaniel) 1976-

PERSONAL: Born 1976, in Washington, DC; son of Melvin (a graphic artist and real-estate appraiser) and Angela (a teacher and school administrator) Jasper. Education: Graduated from Morehouse College, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Broadway Books, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Writer, journalist, novelist, editor, Web designer, photographer, and radio commentator. Has worked in retail, selling books and computers.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Dark, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Dakota Grand, Harlem Moon (New York, NY), 2002.

Seeking Salamanca Mitchell, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including Essence, VIBE, Honey, XXL, Village Voice, Charlotte Observer, and Chicago Sun-Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Author and journalist Kenji Jasper was born in 1976 in Washington, DC. As a teen, he showed aptitude in science, "but realized that his path to professional success would be stymied by his corresponding lack of ability in math," commented a biographer in Contemporary Black Biography. By age nine, he had started writing and began to find more to interest him in the literary world. As a high-school freshman, he was selected to appear as a regular on the Teen Summit television show, broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET). Participation in student government brought him into conflict with the school's administration, including protests of the principal, but his academic achievements as a youth remained high. After studying English and journalism at Morehouse College, he worked in retail before moving to New York City, where he started forging a career as a freelance writer and journalist. His diverse career has expanded to include work as an editor, Web designer, photographer, and commentator on National Public Radio.

Jasper's formative years in the violence-stricken world of inner-city Washington, DC provides a deep and troubling background for his fiction. He grew up during the city's "murder capital of the world" period, he wrote on the No Exit Press Web site. "Gunshots were a sound effect in my dreams and a serious reality during parties on the weekend," he recalled.

Dark, Jasper's first novel, tells the story of Thai Mitchell, a nineteen-year-old government employee with plans for college and self-improvement that never seem to go anywhere. His job provides a career track if he wishes to follow it, but his life is still strongly anchored in the streets where he grew up. Thai spends time with his streetwise group of friends and is devoted to his girlfriend, Sierra. When he finds her having sex with his rival Nick, he is devastated. Drawing on the harsh street culture of vengeance, he challenges Nick to a public fight, where he intends to severely beat Nick for disrespecting him. During the emotionally charged fight, however, someone slips Thai a gun, and in the end, Nick falls dead from a bullet wound. Thai flees to Charlotte, NC and hides out in an apartment of a friend. While there, he begins to see that there is a much broader world outside the confines of the infamous and brutal Shaw neighborhood where he grew up. As he comes to terms with the terrible act he has committed, he gains insight into himself and his culture while moving toward true maturity.

Library Journal reviewer Roger A. Berger called the book an "undistinguished, morally troubling first novel" that "seems to condone murder as a vehicle for self-realization and self-understanding." Conversely, a Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that "What sets this novel apart are the high quality of the writing and the carefully developed themes of responsibility and redemption." Anthony Calypso, writing in Black Issues Book Review, observed that Jasper's novel "forces us to take into account the social conditions that helped to shape [Thai's] limitations."

In Dakota Grand, the title character is a pseudonymous journalist for a popular hip-hop magazine. Given the choice assignment of writing a cover feature about prominent rap group Arbor Day, Grand feels like the gig is a career-maker. He wrangles a rare interview with rapper Mirage, half the Arbor Day duo, and crafts a story designed to secure his journalistic reputation. Grand's star continues to rise as he meets a charming woman he adores and receives an offer on his first novel. Mirage, meanwhile, doesn't like the published story, and along with his bodyguards, he physically attacks Grand. The humiliated and infuriated Grand plots revenge, but has second thoughts about perpetuating the cycle of violence that infects the rap lifestyle. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that Jasper, "a veteran observer of the hip-hop scene, has an unfailing ability to recreate its glitzy locales, hip dialogue, slick characters, and heart-pounding excitement"

Jasper's third novel, Seeking Salamanca Mitchell, tells the story of Benjamin Baker, a promising young African American from Washington, DC. An aspiring musician, Baker spends as much time as he can with Cinnamon, his upright piano, though reserving his best time for the love of his life, Salamanca Mitchell After working some time for neighborhood restaurateur—and Salamanca's father—Alfonse Mitchell, Benjamin finds himself invited to realize his potential by working for Mitchell's real business: a well-choreographed burglary and robbery ring. Shortly after finding out that Salamanca is pregnant, Benjamin is framed for Mitchell's heists and receives a seven-year prison term. He endures prison life while Salamanca hides from her violent and vengeful father. Upon his release, he vows to find Salamanca and his child to start his life over, but the desire for revenge against Alfonse Mitchell is strong. A Kirkus Reviews critic called the book a "jazzy, fluent rendering" of Benjamin's life. "Jasper unleashes a taut, visceral tale of desperation an desire," commented Booklist reviewer Allison Block.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 39, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, July, 2001, Anthony Calypso, review of Dark, p. 32.

Book, May-June, 2002, review of Dark, p. 30.

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Vanessa Bush, review of Dark, p. 1665; September 15, 2002, David Hellman, review of Dakota Grand, p. 207; June 1, 2004, Allison Block, review of Seeking Salamanca Mitchell, p. 1701.

Chicago Sun-Times, October 24, 2002, Regina Robinson, "Writer Jasper Believes Breakthrough is Near," interview with Kenji Jasper, p. 46.

Ebony, September, 2001, review of Dark, p. 22.

Essence, June, 2001, "Take Note," review of Dark, p. 80.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2004, review of SeekingSalamanca Mitchell, p. 552.

Library Journal, June 15, 2001, Roger A. Berger, review of Dark, p. 103.

Publishers Weekly, June 4, 2001, review of Dark, p. 55; August 19, 2002, review of Dakota Grand, p. 64; July 5, 2004, review of Seeking Salamanca Mitchell, p. 39.

School Library Journal, October, 2001, Joyce Fay Fletcher, review of Dark, p. 194.

ONLINE

African American Literature Book Club Web site,http://www.aalbc.com (February 23, 2005), autobiography of Kenji Jasper. Kenji Jasper

Home Page,http://www.kenjijasper.com (February 23, 2005).

Madison.com,http://www.madison.com (February 23, 2005), Rob Thomas, "Jasper is Better Journalist Than Novelist," review of Dakota Grand.

National Public Radio,http://www.npr.org (September 9, 2001), Wilma Consul, "Remembering Dark Streets," review of Dark; (February 23, 2003), "America Transformed—Essays: Kenji Jasper."*