Jackson wrote his The Queen of Harlem, before the Harlem’s redevelopment about a man who reclaims his Black identity. It was on the artist Kehinde Wiley’s ten favorite books in 2016.

Walking Through Mirrors (1998), Jackson’s second novel, is about a Black photographer returning to his home in Louisiana from New York.

Inspired by Jackson’s great-grandmother’s rural Southern experience, he wrote his first novel in 1997, at age 29, The View From Here (1997), which was set in 1950s Mississippi. It was compared to Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and translated to French and a best seller in South Africa.

Jackson moved to New York in 1990 with hopes of becoming an actor. He became frustrated with the roles available to him and began playwriting to create the roles he was looking for. The first time he incorporated gay characters into his writing was in his plays, unpacking the characters as part of communities and relatable rather than a stereotypical trope. His plays were performed and read at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, La Mama, Barnes and Noble and Theatre for the New City.

Brian Keith Jackson (born 1968), is an American novelist, essayist and culture writer based in Harlem, New York.