Chester Himes

Chester Bomar Himes was an American author best known for his mystery, thriller, and literary fiction novels. He began his writing career while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery in the early 1930s. While incarcerated, Himes produced short stories for various periodicals, including Esquire and Abbott's Monthly. After his release, he shifted his focus to semi-autobiographical protest novels.

In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire. This series had previously published works from notable authors such as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Jim Thompson. Himes' inclusion in the series marked a significant milestone as he was the first black author to be featured. The Harlem Cycle, a result of this collaboration, brought Himes celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: Cotton Comes to Harlem, directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; Come Back, Charleston Blue (based on The Heat's On) in 1972; and A Rage in Harlem, starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991. Himes moved to Spain in 1968, where he resided until his death.