Philip Gambone was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts and is an American writer. He earned a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.A. from the Episcopal Divinity School. His writing has covered many genres, including novels and short stories, personal reminiscence, non-fiction, and scholarly essays, as well as book reviews and interviews.
He has published four book-length works, beginning with a collection of short stories titled The Language We Use Up Here in 1991. It was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, and a review in Harvard Magazine called it "quietly inspired". Other short stories have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies. Something Inside: Conversations with Gay Fiction Writers appeared in 1999. The Montreal Mirror called it "a rich collective portrait of some of the most important and interesting gay writers of the last three decades".
Gambone's first novel, Beijing: A Novel, appeared in 2003. Another collection of non-fiction pieces based on interviews appeared in 2010 under the title Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans. He drew his 44 subjects from every corner of the gay community, including, for example, composer Jennifer Higdon, Star Trek's George Takei, and anti-war activist Mandy Carter.[4]
Gambone has also published essays about China and Chinese literature in such publications as the Boston Globe and the New York Times. He has also contributed essays to textbooks about both ancient and modern China.
His many awards include artist's fellowships granted by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, MacDowell, and the Helene Wurlitzer Fountion, as well as a research fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Best American Short Stories, 1989 (Houghton Mifflin, 1990) recognized his work as well.
He has taught writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Boston College. He has also taught in the expository writing program at Harvard. He teaches in the writing program at the Harvard Extension School, which has twice awarded him Distinguished Teaching Citations.
Gambone served 27 years on the faculty at The Park School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and taught English at Boston University Academy until retiring in 2017.
