Welcome

Lamont Neal knew he wanted to write as early as elementary school. Growing up as an African-American child in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, his “marching orders” were clear: find a practical career and prioritize the stability required to pay the bills.

While Lamont has successfully maintained that professional path, he eventually embraced a truth many overlook—that while financial security is essential, it is not the same as truly living. Today, he balances his daily career with a return to his creative roots. What began as private reflections for loved ones has expanded into a body of work for a broader audience. Lamont is the author of the self-published memoirs For Chloe and A Thinner Life. His current manuscripts, A Tree in a Storm (Creative Non-Fiction) and Unearth (Poetry), have already found readers through excerpts in Poetry Habitat, Spillwords, and Blood+Honey.

Here you’ll find my published and forthcoming books, essays, and excerpts — each one a meditation on what it means to live fully, to inherit history, and to reclaim the self.

✨ Recent highlights include:

  • For Chloe: Letter from Father to His Daughter (August 2025) — a lyrical meditation on fatherhood and legacy.
  • A Thinner Life: Some Assembly Required (August 2025) — a memoir of resilience and reclamation.
  • Hey Nico, Got a Minute (January 2026)—An epistolary memoir of letters from father to son.
  • Essays from A Tree in a Storm appearing in Poetry Habitat, and Blood+Honey.
  • Poems from Unearth appearing in Spillwords and Poetry Habitat.

📚 To explore the full list of my books and essays, visit the Books & Essays page.