Author · Educator · Storyteller · Filmmaker
From the Bronx to the classroom to the big screen, James McSherry’s work reflects a life dedicated to writing, teaching, and storytelling that connects with readers and audiences everywhere.
Published Works
Explore James McSherry’s books, essays, and films featured in literary journals and festivals.
A Clean Street’s a Happy Street
Collaborate with fellow architects. A Clean Street’s a Happy Street is James McSherry’s powerful memoir about growing up in the Bronx amid poverty, mental illness, and family struggles. Written in vivid, unsentimental prose, the book captures moments of hardship and resilience as McSherry navigates childhood and adolescence in a world marked by both chaos and hope. Celebrated for its honesty and spare beauty, the memoir was awarded the BRIO Prize and selected for the New York Public Library’s Young Adult Collection, cementing its place as a significant work of Bronx literature.
American Boy
American Boy by James McSherry is a raw, haunting portrait of a brother’s struggle with mental illness and addiction in the Bronx. Blending childhood memories with stark scenes of institutional life, McSherry captures the pain, loyalty, and helpless love that bind family even through chaos. Told with unflinching honesty and compassion, it’s a story about loss, resilience, and what it means to watch someone you love slip away.
“A voice that captures the soul of the Bronx and speaks to universal human experiences of loss, love, and survival.”
— Sequestrum Literary Journal
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