Bio

Born in Philadelphia in 1972, Paul Langan spent his early childhood in the city before moving with his mother to southern New Jersey. There he attended public schools and later worked a variety of jobs—including salesperson at a shoe store, attendant at a horse ranch, landscaper at a mental hospital, and a night-shift stockperson in a warehouse. "Each job," he says today, "could be the topic of several juicy novels."

In 1991, he enrolled at Camden County College and a year later transferred to La Salle University, where he studied creative writing and earned a B.A. in English. While at La Salle, he lived with international students, traveled to his roommate's home in Kenya, became a prison tutor, and found "the courage" to write.

After graduation, he worked for a nonprofit agency in Philadelphia and then joined Townsend Press (TP) as an Assistant Editor. After contributing to a number of TP textbooks and teaching a college English course, Paul reconnected to his interests in creative writing with the Bluford series. He has served as both editor of the series and author or coauthor of five of the ten novels, The Bully, The Gun, Summer of Secrets, Brothers in Arms, and Blood Is Thicker. His stories reflect personal experiences, including the difficulties of growing up without a father and the many challenges students face in school.

Recently, Paul completed a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. He now lives "a stone’s throw" from Philadelphia and stubbornly clings to the hope that he will one day see a champion Philly sports team.