About me
Jonathan Leal is Associate Professor of English and Affiliated Faculty in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, Leal’s transdisciplinary work spans books, editorial projects, albums, and interdisciplinary arts initiatives exploring cultural connection, creative resistance, and conceptual possibility. His books include Wild Tongue: A Borderlands Mixtape (Duke UP 2026), Dreams in Double Time: On Race, Freedom, and Bebop (Duke UP 2023), and a co-edited volume, Cybermedia: Explorations in Science, Sound, and Vision (Bloomsbury 2021). Also an independent music producer and award-winning drummer, his recent musical collaborations have included releases featured in Pitchfork, Latino USA, Democracy Now, and elsewhere. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Book Critics Circle, where he is Co-Chair of Criticism.
