Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
Jason
Bestselling & Award Winning Novelist
National Book Award for Fiction
Travels from: Wilmington, NC

“Jason Mott is a writer of incredible depth and a human of deep delight. Our audience was awed by his stories and his presence at Literary Sojourn, and this lovely author is deserving of every single accolade he receives both on and off the page.” – Literary Sojourn

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Jason Mott lives in southeastern North Carolina. He has a BFA in Fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He was nominated for a 2009 Pushcart Prize award and Entertainment Weekly listed him as one of their 10 “New Hollywood: Next Wave” people to watch.

He is the author of two poetry collections: We Call This Thing Between Us Love and “…hide behind me…” He is the author of three novels: The Returned, The Wonder of All Things, and The Crossing.

The Returned, Jason’s debut novel, was adapted by Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B, in association with Brillstein Entertainment and ABC. It aired on the ABC network under the title “Resurrection.”

Jason’s fourth novel, Hell Of A Book, was released in the summer of 2021, and received the 2021 National Book Award. It’s a story that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans, and America as a whole.

Jason's Featured Titles

Hell of a Book: A Novel

Dutton |
Fiction

***2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER***

***THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER***

Winner of the 2021 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize Finalist, 2022 Chautauqua Prize Finalist, Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing Shortlist, and the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize shortlist

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

An Ebony Magazine Publishing Book Club Pick!

One of Washington Post‘s 50 Notable Works of Fiction | One of Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Best Books of 2021 | One of Shelf Awareness’s Top Ten Fiction Titles of the Year | One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books | One of NPR.org’s “Books We Love” | EW’s “Guide to the Biggest and Buzziest Books of 2021” | One of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults | San Diego Union Tribune—My Favorite Things from 2021 | Writer’s Bone’s Best Books of 2021 | Atlanta Journal Constitution—Top 10 Southern Books of the Year | One of the Guardian‘s (UK) Best Ten 21st Century Comic Novels | One of Entertainment Weekly‘s 15 Books You Need to Read This June | On Entertainment Weekly‘s “Must List” | One of the New York Post‘s Best Summer Reading books | One of GMA’s 27 Books for June | One of USA Today‘s 5 Books Not to Miss | One of Fortune‘s 21 Most Anticipated Books Coming Out in the Second Half of 2021 | One of The Root‘s PageTurners: It’s Getting Hot in Here | One of Real Simple‘s Best New Books to Read in 2021

An astounding work of fiction from New York Times bestselling author Jason Mott, always deeply honest, at times electrically funny, that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans and America as a whole

In Jason Mott’s Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and more urgent: Mott’s novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour.

As these characters’ stories build and converge, they astonish. For while this heartbreaking and magical book entertains and is at once about family, love of parents and children, art and money, it’s also about the nation’s reckoning with a tragic police shooting playing over and over again on the news. And with what it can mean to be Black in America.

Who has been killed? Who is The Kid? Will the author finish his book tour, and what kind of world will he leave behind?  Unforgettably told, with characters who burn into your mind and an electrifying plot ideal for book club discussion, Hell of a Book is the novel Mott has been writing in his head for the last ten years. And in its final twists, it truly becomes its title.

The Crossing

Park Row |
Fiction

From the New York Times Bestselling author of A Hell of a Book, A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK

When a deadly pandemic spreads across the globe, two siblings face the ultimate choice: Stay and die, or run and survive. From the New York Times bestselling author of Hell of a Book.

Twins Virginia and Tommy Matthews have been on their own since they were orphaned at the age of five. Twelve years later, the world begins to collapse around them as a deadly contagion steadily wipes out entire populations and a devastating world war rages on. When Tommy is drafted for the war, the twins are faced with a choice: accept their fate of almost certain death or dodge the draft. Virginia and Tommy flee into the dark night.

Armed with only a pistol and their fierce will to survive, the twins set forth in search of a new beginning. Tommy and Virginia must navigate the dangers and wonders of this changed world. But how far will they get before the demons of their past catch up with them?

The Wonder of All Things

Mira Books |
Fiction

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hell of a Book, A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK

On an ordinary day, at an air show like that in any small town across the country, a plane crashes into a crowd of spectators. After the dust clears, a thirteen-year-old girl named Ava is found huddled beneath a pocket of rubble with her best friend, Wash. He is injured and bleeding, and when Ava places her hands over him, his wounds disappear.

Ava has an unusual gift: she can heal others of their physical ailments. Until the air show tragedy, her gift was a secret. Now the whole world knows, and suddenly people from all over the globe begin flocking to her small town, looking for healing and eager to catch a glimpse of The Miracle Child. But Ava’s unique ability comes at a great cost, and as she grows weaker with each healing, she soon finds herself having to decide just how much she’s willing to give up in order to save the ones she loves most.

Elegantly written, deeply intimate and emotionally astute, The Wonder of All Things is an unforgettable story and a poignant reminder of life’s extraordinary gifts.

The Returned

Mira Books |
Fiction

From the author of Hell of a Book, a READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK and a winner of The National Book Award.

“The Returned transforms a brilliant premise into an extraordinary and beautifully realized novel. My spine is still shivering from the memory of this haunting story. Wow.” – Douglas Preston, #1 bestselling author of The Monster of Florence

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hell of a Book, a sensational novel about an impossible miracle and a family given a second chance at life…

Harold and Lucille Hargrave’s eight-year-old son, Jacob, died tragically in 1966. In their old age they’ve settled comfortably into life without him…. Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep–flesh and blood, still eight years old.

All over the world people’s loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why, whether it’s a miracle or a sign of the end. But as chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

A Conversation with Jason Mott

Jason’s News

Jason’s Upcoming Events

Honors, Awards & Recognition

2021 National Book Award Winner for Fiction
National Bestseller
Winner of the 2021 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction
Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize Finalist
2022 Chautauqua Prize Finalist
Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing Shortlist
2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize shortlist
A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick
An Ebony Magazine Publishing Book Club Pick
One of Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction
One of Philadelphia Inquirer’s Best Books of 2021
One of Shelf Awareness’s Top Ten Fiction Titles of the Year
One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books
One of NPR.org’s “Books We Love”
EW’s “Guide to the Biggest and Buzziest Books of 2021”
One of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults
San Diego Union Tribune—My Favorite Things from 2021
Writer’s Bone’s Best Books of 2021
Atlanta Journal Constitution—Top 10 Southern Books of the Year
One of the Guardian’s (UK) Best Ten 21st Century Comic Novels
One of Entertainment Weekly’s 15 Books You Need to Read This June
On Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List”
One of the New York Post’s Best Summer Reading books
One of GMA’s 27 Books for June
One of USA Today’s 5 Books Not to Miss
One of Fortune’s 21 Most Anticipated Books Coming Out in the Second Half of 2021
One of The Root’s PageTurners: It’s Getting Hot in Here
One of Real Simple’s Best New Books to Read in 2021

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

Similar Authors

Madeline
#1 NYT Bestselling Novelist
Jamie
Bestselling Historical Novelist
Wiley
Bestselling & Award Winning Novelist
Silvia
Bestselling Novelist
Silas
Bestselling Novelist

Interested in hosting this author?
Send us a message and an A|U Agent will return to you ASAP!