NATHAN JARELLE
Jarelle poses for the camera prior to the release of his second book. Photo by Carterville Studios.
Hanging out in D.C. Photo by C L Tyson Photography
"The success we find, and a lot of the good things we sustain, all starts with what we manifest. So speak light and not darkness."
Jarelle has a fondness for impactful writing that resonates with readers. His ability to architect storylines with life-like characters and dialogue is persistent with his literary background. A native Marylander, Jarelle spent years studying literature, which he admits came easier to him than sports. "I used to wish I was good at ball like a lot of the other kids I knew," he said. "I was just average, nothing to get excited about. Meanwhile, I was secretly enjoying reading, journaling and other creative gifts that I didn't want my peers to know about."
For years, Jarelle avoided his calling until his passion for writing guided him to a degree in English. He credits his mother to helping him to shape a pathway towards literature. "Mom made my brother and I go down to the public library every summer and pick out books to read while we were on break from school. It was a chore at first," he admits. "It finally connected as I got older. I gave up sports and started hanging out in bookstores on my own. I bought my first journal and that's when the writing really took off."
In the early 2000s, Jarelle started writing as a freelance writer covering sports and other various social topics. Many of his works were front page features. He eventually transitioned to writing short fiction but was reluctant to publish his works. "Despite writing for all those years and some of the successes I had, there was still that little kid in me who was hiding from being a writer," he said. "It took me a while to break through that. It's important that the success we find, and a lot of the good things we sustain all starts with what we manifest. So speak life and not darkness." Jarelle continued writing through his misgivings. In 2021, he created and self-published his Beyond Poetry series, a coming-of-age novel combining urban fiction and poetry told through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy named Junior. In the book, Junior loses his younger brother to gun violence and copes with the tragedy through poetry. Jarelle's catchy, gritty novel earned positive praise from Kirkus Reviews, a prestigious American book review magazine based in New York. He followed the release of his first novel with a sequel, Beyond Poetry: Above & Beyond in 2022. A critique of his latest book, Finding Casey: Part of the Beyond Poetry Series is featured on the Independent Book Review's website. Jarelle is currently working on a new project which is slated for release in 2026. "Don't block your blessings," he says. "You never know where they could take you someday."
Jarelle autographs a copy of Beyond Poetry for a customer at a Barnes & Noble.