Jamel Brinkley is the author of a new short story collection called Witness and previously published the short story collection  A Lucky Man which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Story Prize, the John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; and winner of a PEN Oakland Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His writing has appeared in A Public Space, Ploughshares, The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, Guernica, Glimmer Train,The Best American Short Stories, and many more. He was raised in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and now teaches at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.We talk to Jamel about his upcoming collection, Witness, and about what attracts him to short stories as a form. Hosted by Phillip Russell and Ben ThorpYou can learn more about Jamel Brinkley here.Visit our website: Originstory.showFollow us on Twitter @originstory_Do you have feedback or questions for us? Email us theoriginstorypod@gmail.comCover art and website design by Melody HirschOrigin Story original score by Ryan Hopper