Photo by Yuka Parr
Patrick Parr's first book, The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age, was released in April 2018 by Chicago Review Press, the Wall Street Journal calling it “original, much-needed and even stirring.” Pulitzer-Prize winning author David J. Garrow wrote that The Seminarian is “without question the most original and important book about King’s life to appear in more than a quarter century.”
The Seminarian was named a finalist for the 2019 Washington State Book Award and is available in paperback.
His second book, One Week in America: The 1968 Notre Dame Literary Festival and a Changing Nation, was released on March 2, 2021.
To learn more about the book, check out this book trailer. You can also listen to this podcast interview.
His third book, Malcolm Before X, to be published by the University of Massachusetts Press, will be released in November 2024.
Parr graduated with a degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Catawba College, and earned a Master's in Creative Writing from Seton Hill University. In May 2014, Patrick was awarded an Artist Trust Fellowship for his literary career.
Parr’s work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. His nonfiction has focused mainly on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He has also written extensively about Japan as well as various biographical portraits of historical figures such as Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Kurt Vonnegut, Ralph Ellison and Kato Shidzue.
He currently writes a history column for Japan Today, about historical figures or businesses coming to Japan for the first time. See below for links to the ongoing series.
Since 2019, Parr has been a professor of writing at Lakeland University Japan. He lives with his wife near Tokyo.
In the past, Parr has been a tennis teaching professional, a newspaper delivery boy, and a “sad” version of Santa Claus. And although the television show has long concluded, Patrick will defend the absolute greatness of Lost to anyone disappointed by the ending.
For press and speaking inquiries, please contact him directly, at pdparr14 at gmail (dot) com.
Quick links to selected articles are below. For more articles and information, please see the 'Non-Fiction' and ‘Books’ page.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age. Paperback edition: January 7, 2020.
The Young Man Who Became a Civil Rights Icon - The Atlantic (Excerpt from The Seminarian) MLK and Betty Moitz: A 1950 Love Story - Politico (Adapted Excerpt from The Seminarian) Fifty Years Later, MLK's Complexity Hangs in the Balance 4.4.2018- Boston Globe A Sneeze Away: MLK’s Near Death Experience in Harlem - American History Magazine How Coretta Scott King brought her husband's message to Japan - The Japan Times Martin Luther King Jr.'s L.A. Bomb Scare - Boom California How MLK and Nonviolence is Perceived in Japan - The Japan Times Rev. Samuel McKinney Remembers His Friend Dr. King - Seattle Magazine MLK, Hiroshima, and the Fear of Nuclear Destruction - The Japan Times How Might MLK Feel about Ferguson - USA Today Martin Luther King Jr.'s Japanese Friend: Makoto Sakurabayashi - The Japan Times Martin Luther King Jr.'s Near Appearance on Japanese Television - Japan Today When a Nazi Punched Dr. King: A story about radicalism, violence and helping unify America - New York Daily News
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Shake Hands - The American Prospect
History Today
Pearl Harbor and Japanese-Americans
The Humanist Magazine
Kurt Vonnegut Survives Humanity James Baldwin Battles Humanity Charles Darwin Almost Didn't Board the HMS Beagle Barbara McClintock Fights the Male Establishment
The Japan Times
The First Ever English School in Japan: Ranald MacDonald Culture Shock: Living Abroad in America Young Shinzo Abe: Focused Student, Proud Mustang Owner Barack Obama's Historic Hiroshima Visit Reverse Culture Shock: Returning Home After a Life Abroad
Current Issues/Politics
ICAN champions grass-roots efforts to persuade Japan and others to support a nuclear-free world - The Japan Times Donald Trump's Business History with Japan - Japan Today An International Reaction to Donald Trump's Immigrant Ban - The Humanist Japanese Who've Studied in U.S. See Nation Changing For the Worse Under Trump - The Japan Times
Book Reviews
Killing the Rising Sun, by Bill O'Reilly - The Humanist The Bells of Old Tokyo, by Anna Sherman - The Japan Times Mr. Straight Arrow: The Career of John Hersey, by Jeremy Treglown - The Japan Times
Education/Teaching
English as a Second Life: Juggling Cultures in the Age of Globalization - The Font