About James Polchin
James Polchin is writer, professor, and cultural historian of queer crime and scandal.
He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University.
His work has been featured in The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Paris Review, Rolling Stone, Slate, TIME, Huffington Post, CrimeReads, NewNextNow, The New Inquiry, and the Gay and Lesbian Review. He has been interviewed about his work by Vox, Oxygen, BBC4 Radio, National Public Radio, The American Scholar, CrimeReads, Bookforum, House of Mystery Radio, among other places.
James is a Clinical Professor in Liberal Studies at New York University where he teaches writing and cultural history. For a number of years, he taught at NYU sites in London, Paris, and Florence. He has previously taught at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation, Princeton University Writing Program, The New School, and The American University.
He splits his time between New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts where he lives with his partner, the painter and photographer Greg Salvatori, and a Labrador named Albert.
BOOKS
His latest book, Shadow Men:A Tangled Story of Murder, Media, and Privilege that Scandalized Jazz Age America (Counterpoint) came out in 2024 and was recently reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, which noted: “Polchin knows the era, and bring to his account a wealth of colorful supporting details.” The book was named A Best Nonfiction Crime Books of the year by CrimeReads, and A Best Historical True Crime Book of the Year by the Chicago Review of Books.
His book Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall (Counterpoint)was a finalist for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and named a best true crime book of the year by CrimeReads.
INTERVIEWS
“Shadow Men” (House of Mystery Radio / NBC)
“The Ward-Peters Murder Case” (Most Notorious Podcast)
“Indecent Advances” (House of Mystery Radio / NBC)
“Hidden Gay Lives” (BBC4 Radio)
“Queers Deserved It: New Book Chronicles Antigay Crime Pre-Stonewall” (Advocate)
“'Indecent Advances' Chronicles Violence Gay Men Experienced Before Stonewall Riots” (NPR/WBUR)
“The Killer Crooner And The Death Of A Thrill-Killer: LGBT True Crime Of The Past” (Oxygen/NBC)
“Crimes Against Sexuality: How true crime stories were used to fan the flames of homophobia—and let killers get away with murder” (Smarty Pants Podcast/ American Scholar)
“Queer true crime stories of the past show how the press stoked fear of gay men” (VOX)
“How Sensationalizing True Crime Criminalized Queer People” (CrimeReads)
“James Polchin Looks at Violence Against Gay Men Before Stonewall” (Provincetown Local)
“Homosexual Panic: PW Talks with James Polchin” (Publishers Weekly & The Millions)
“Reading with James Polchin” (Shelf Awareness)
ESSAYS
“Queer True Crime: A Reading List” (CrimeReads)
“The Queer Crime that Launched the Beats” (Paris Review)
“What is Our Offense: How Decades of Queer True Crime Fueled the Stonewall Uprising” (Slate)
“The History of True Crime and the Legacy of Tom Ripley” (Crime Reads)
“How True-Crime Stories Reveal the Overlooked History of Pre-Stonewall Violence Against Queer People” (TIME)
“When ‘Indecent Advances’ Was An Excuse to Murder Gay Men” (Rolling Stone)
“The Story Of Hate Gay Men Faced Before Stonewall Changed Everything” (Huffington Post, UK)
“Before Stonewall: Secret Scrapbooks Uncover How Gay People Were Criminalised” (Irish Times)
“Manet in Tunisia” (The New Inquiry)
“The Baldwin of Giovanni’s Room” (Gay and Lesbian Review)
“The Afterlife of George Platt Lynes" (Gay and Lesbian Review)