Christopher Chambers

Christopher Chambers is a writer, educator, and legal scholar whose career spans academia, journalism, and crime fiction. An honors graduate of Princeton University and the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he was the first African American on the Law Review, Chambers established a foundation in both legal and journalistic fields. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and helped organize the Charlotte Observer's first digital journalism desk before transitioning from law to writing. Chambers is a professor of journalism at Georgetown University, where he lectures and writes on media and culture, the First Amendment, minorities and politics, journalistic standards, and the evolution of punditry. He has developed courses including "The Public Intellectual in Modern Journalism" and "Expeditions, Executions & Exposés."

As a fiction writer, Chambers is recognized for his contributions to hardboiled noir and crime fiction. He authored the Angela Bivens novels for Random House—"Sympathy for the Devil" and "A Prayer for Deliverance"—and his short story "Leviathan" was nominated for a PEN/Malamud Award for short fiction. A third novel in the Angela Bivens series was adapted for Lifetime TV, and Chambers has published short story collections and fiction in outlets such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen. His work also includes graphic novels and pulp fiction, such as "The Rocket Crockett" pulp noir series and co-editing "The Darker Mask" graphic short story collection with Gary Phillips.

Chambers's Dickie Cornish series has received critical acclaim in the mystery and crime fiction community. "Scavenger," the series debut, offers a contemporary perspective on hardboiled noir, following Dickie Cornish, a Black survivor living in a homeless camp near the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The novel received a starred review and profile in Publishers Weekly and was nominated for both a Shamus and Anthony Award. The Strand Magazine named the sequel, "Standalone," one of the Top Mystery Novels of the year. Author George Pelecanos has praised the series for its depiction of Washington, D.C.

In addition to his novels, Chambers contributes to major anthologies and is active in the mystery writing community. He has contributed short stories to "The Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda," "The Faking of the President," and "Midnight Hour." Chambers is a recipient of the Anthony Award. He serves as president of Mystery Writers of America–Middle Atlantic Chapter and sits on the board of directors for Bouchercon: World Mystery Convention and the Private Eye Writers of America. Chambers is a regular contributor on political, media, and cultural topics, with appearances on SiriusXM radio, NPR, ABC News, China CGNTV, and RT America, establishing his presence in both the literary and media landscapes.