​Doug Cooper Spencer

Novelist, Storyteller

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Photo by Greg Cooper Spencer
Doug Cooper Spencer is a novelist and short fiction writer living in New York City. He is the author of: This Place of Men, People Like Us, Leaving Gomorrah, A Letter to a Friend, Ella Pruitt, Gather the Bones, and A River Runs Beneath Us: Voices and Writings of The Griot Book Project.
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In a book that opens with a Timeline of Black LGBTQ People in the Americas from 1591 to the present, the reader is taken on a journey conducted by the voices and writings of Afro-American LGBTQ elders born before 1960. Growing up black and gay in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Coming from places as diverse as coal mining towns, and inner-city streets to making their way to the streets of New York City, Paris, Hollywood — even to prison, these griots in A River Runs Beneath Us tell their stories. Using interviews, memoir, fiction, essays, and poetry we hear about the lives of these griots. Through their stories we hear the names of Martin Luther King, Jr., Ashford and Simpson, Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen, Hugh Hefner, Prince, Glynn Turman, and others as people who some of these griots have known.
They are stories of and by people who lived through times when policies towards race and sex were most challenging. Yet these griots lived their lives authentically with persistence and resilience, all while being visible. A River Runs Beneath Us: Voices and Writings of The Griot Book Project not only entertains but is also a book of record.
1969. A brutal murder in an all black town and a pregnant thirteen year old girl at the center of the murder. Years later, the girl— now a middle age woman, wife and mother — struggles with the weight of guilt and against what appears to be the presence of the man who was murdered. Ella Pruitt, a story that spans three decades before the startling and unexpected truth behind the murder is revealed. 2016 Phillis Wheatley Book Award Finalist
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A collection of Short stories. Some of the stories featured below, by Doug Cooper-Spencer.
 • A man finds the mother who abandoned him and learns the truth behind why she left.

 • In 1976, a night on the town for a group of black gay friends takes an unanticipated turn.

 • Tragedy strikes a marriage leaving the couple to look at what happens to love, when life goes wrong.

 • The summer of 1963 was a milestone in the Civil Rights Movement, just as it is for a boy growing up black and gay.
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​​ • Life in the magazines and on tv is  alluring- - but at what cost for a black woman and her twin brother?

'This Place of Men' Trilogy Series
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Book 1
Sentenced to prison at eighteen and afterwards, to a life in the streets, a gay man returns home to confront the minister, family members and townspeople who destroyed his life.
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Book 2
A marriage ends when the husband accepts that he is gay. Now the 'ex-couple' must struggle with the love and respect they once had for each other... And what about their children?
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Book 3
A gay man discovers he has a son from a one night affair many years ago. Now his son, a young man from the streets has come to live with him.
In 1999, what began as a personal letter became a manifesto against homophobia and a declaration of liberation from homophobia. Giving thought to homophobic tropes and devices such as the idea of God's condemnation of homosexuality, and the view that declares homosexuality as unnatural, 'A Letter to a Friend' challenges those worn ways of thinking with fresh ideas.
I wonder if you realize how special you are.  Thank you.
 - Donna B.
This Place of Men offers an interesting example of conflict resolution… There's a side story… which will probably surprise most readers.  This Place of Men is a bittersweet love story and Doug Cooper-Spencer has a mature, seasoned voice. It will probably be enjoyable to readers who tire of the usual "we're gay and fabulous" storylines.
- Rod McCullom, ‘Rod 2.0’ website; journalist CNN, The Advocate
I finished reading the entire This Place of Men Trilogy, and must say I was sad to come to the end of the last book in the trilogy, ‘Leaving Gomorrah’ because the world I had come to share with Otis, Terrell, Antonio and the many wonderful characters that peopled the trilogy was one of intimacy; so intimate, in fact that I didn’t want to leave them behind.  BRAVO for the This Place of Men Trilogy!  
​- Yvonne T.
This is one of the most amazing letters I have ever read to say the least.  It is so wonderfully put.  I needed to read this today.  Reading this has changed me today... to being more hopeful of tomorrow... less hurt about people's views of my life, ... and more connected to God's love. That is due to everyone. Thank you for sharing this!!
- Bridget
A great story and a core truth: The life you’ve been prepared for isn’t the one meant for you; sometimes it’s not even the life you’ve been given… The book doesn’t beat you over the head with that truth, but the writer puts it together artfully… you find yourself understanding it even though it’s never plainly stated…. the mark of a good story and a good writer.
- Amazon Reviews
​Saw this book a few weeks ago… picked it up as the back cover caught my interest and I am so glad I did… I fell in love with this book as it is many wondrous things: love story, the Black family, and a story that (makes) one think… The characters are well written, some surprises, and again a wonderful read… I’ve never heard of the author and I feel that I know my Black Gay authors, but this one snuck under my radar.
- Amazon Reviews
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The Griot Book Project
The Griot Book Project is collecting writings and audio recordings of and by Afro-American LGBTQ griots who were born before 1960. The writings will be used in an upcoming book.

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