Two men dressed in dark shirts, one wearing glasses, smiling and posing together in front of a beige wall with a sign that reads '1 Juice Only, Water Only.' The man on the left has his arm around the other man's shoulders, and they are standing on a reddish-brown tiled floor.
Man wearing glasses, black top hat, white tuxedo with a black bow tie at formal event.

Short bio

John "Divine G" Whitfield built an award-winning body of work — four PEN Awards, the Tacenda Literary Award, and a citation by the United Nations — while incarcerated. His life and writing anchor the A24 film Sing Sing, on which he is an Oscar-nominated writer and executive producer, and for which Colman Domingo earned a Best Actor nomination portraying him. He founded Divine G Entertainment.

Copy short bio

Medium bio

John "Divine G" Whitfield is a novelist and playwright whose writing career began — and flourished — while he was incarcerated. He published a body of acclaimed work behind the walls, including the novels Enigma of Love, Money-Grip, and Baby Doll, along with short fiction and drama in national anthologies, earning five national writing awards (four PEN Awards and the Tacenda Literary Award) and a citation by the United Nations for his advocacy of education in detention.

His life and work are the basis of the A24 film Sing Sing, for which he is an Oscar-nominated writer and an executive producer, and in which Colman Domingo earned a Best Actor nomination portraying him — making Whitfield one of the first two formerly incarcerated RTA alumni ever nominated for an Academy Award. He is the founder of Divine G Entertainment.

Copy medium bio

Full bio

John "Divine G" Whitfield is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and producer whose literary career began during his incarceration and produced a remarkable body of published work. His first published piece, the short story Averted Hearts, appeared in the Triple Crown Productions anthology The Game: Short Stories About the Life. He went on to publish the novels Enigma of Love (his first), Money-Grip (his second), and Baby Doll (his third), and the play Peak-Zone in the anthology Exiled Voices, Portals of Discovery: Stories, Poems, and Drama by Imprisoned Writers — all while behind the walls. Along the way he won four PEN Awards and the Tacenda Literary Award — five national writing awards in all — and was quoted by the United Nations in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education of persons in detention (A/HRC/11/8, 2009).

His life and writing are the basis of the A24 film Sing Sing, on which he shares an Oscar- nominated writing credit and served as an executive producer, and for which Colman Domingo received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor portraying him — making Whitfield one of the first two formerly incarcerated Rehabilitation Through the Arts alumni ever nominated for an Oscar. After his release he founded Divine G Entertainment, through which he self-published additional novels (No Other Love, The Canarsie Connection, TGONG, Time Jack) and re-released his catalog in eBook, paperback, and audiobook. He has adapted all of his novels into feature screenplays, Money-Grip and Money-Grip 2, among others, are now being taken to producers.

Copy full bio
Download Full Press Kit (ZIP)
Book cover titled 'The GAME: Short Stories About the Life' with yellow crime scene tape crossing the cover, showing a woman's legs in high heels and a fishnet stocking, and various images of a gun, a fingerprint, and a broken piece of wood.
Book cover titled 'Enigma of Love' with an illustration of a man with dreadlocks and a woman in purple, set in an urban street scene at night, with the subtitle 'A Novel by.'
Book cover titled 'Enigma of Love' with images of diverse people expressing surprise or shock, and a woman with long hair reaching out towards a glowing light, with a background of vibrant colors and scenes.
Book cover titled 'Money' with caution tape reading 'Crime Scene' and scattered dollar bills and a yellow cloth.
Book cover titled 'Exiled Voices' with red text and barcode stripes in the background, subtitled 'Portland Discovery', edited by Naomi Naggert.
Close-up of a woman with dark skin, wearing hoop earrings, a large hat, and a fur coat, with bold makeup and jewelry. The cover features the title 'Baby Doll' and the author's name 'D. Vine G'.

  • Academy Award nomination — Best Adapted Screenplay (Story credit), Sing Sing, 97th Academy Awards

  • Executive producer — Sing Sing (A24)

  • Four PEN Awards

  • Tacenda Literary Award

  • United Nations citation — Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education of persons in detention (A/HRC/11/8, p. 6, ¶ 11, 2 April 2009)

  • Among the first two formerly incarcerated RTA alumni ever nominated for an Academy Award

The above works were written and published while incarcerated:

Enigma of Love (first novel) · Money-Grip (second novel) · Baby Doll (third novel) "Averted Hearts" (short story, in The Game: Short Stories About the Life)

"Peak-Zone" (play, in Exiled Voices, Portals of Discovery)

Two smiling men taking a selfie under a white tent outdoors. One man is wearing a purple hoodie and glasses, the other is wearing a white shirt with black glasses and headphones around his neck.

John "Divine G" Whitfield

BIOGRAPHY

HONORS & RECOGNITION

Two men sitting at a cafeteria table with food and drinks, looking directly at the camera.

Press & Media

Four-time PEN Award winner · United Nations–cited author · Oscar-nominated writer and executive producer of the A24 film Sing Sing

For interviews, review copies, event bookings, and media assets, contact divinegentertainment@gmail.com · 347-355-9083. — — bios, headshots, book covers, and fact sheet in one file.

AT A GLANCE

A fast reference for journalists, bookers, podcasters, press and other media influencers:

  • Oscar-nominated writer (Best Adapted Screenplay, Story credit) and executive producer of Sing Sing (A24), 97th Academy Awards

  • Colman Domingo — Best Actor nominee for portraying him

  • Among the first two formerly incarcerated RTA alumni ever nominated for an Academy Award

  • A founding member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) — the program at the heart of Sing Sing

  • Began writing during a wrongful imprisonment; his fight for exoneration continues with the Deskovic Foundation

  • Four PEN Awards + the Tacenda Literary Award — five national writing awards

  • Quoted by the United Nations (Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education of persons in detention, A/HRC/11/8, 2009)

  • Author of eight novels plus published short fiction and drama — an award-winning body of work produced while incarcerated

  • Founder & CEO, Divine G Entertainment

THE STORY

Two men dressed in formal attire, one in a black suit and glasses, the other in a white tuxedo with a black top hat and bow tie, smiling and posing together in front of a backdrop.
Two men in formal suits and black tie posing together at a TIFF event, smiling with arms around each other in front of a step-and-repeat banner.

Long before Hollywood knew his name, John "Divine G" Whitfield was writing — and publishing — from inside prison. Money-Grip, his second published novel, became popular on Rikers Island: incarcerated readers' families bought copies, men read it, and they sought him out in the yard and the mess hall for his autograph, inspiring many of them to start reading. That true history is woven into the Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing, where Whitfield cameos as a book fan — and the character played by Colman Domingo asks if he's "from Rikers Island," a nod to the novel's popularity there — before signing a copy of Money-Grip.

It's a full circle no one could script: the author who was once asked for his autograph behind the walls, on screen, asking his own Oscar-nominated portrayal for one.

Whitfield's writing began for a reason that still drives him: imprisoned for a crime he has always maintained he did not commit, and finding no relief in the courts, he started writing to tell the world the truth about his case. His memoir, The Whitfield Files, won a PEN award in 2004. A founding member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts — the program Sing Sing portrays — he turned that fight into a body of award-winning work.

SELECTED WORKS

Cover of a book titled "Money-Grip 2" by Divine G, featuring a spiral of hundred-dollar bills in the background.
Book cover titled 'No Other Love' by Divine G, featuring a woman with dark hair and a floral shirt, standing on a sidewalk with her back to the camera, raising her arms with two blue heart-shaped objects, in a residential neighborhood with apartments and trees.
Book cover titled 'The Canarsie Connection,' presented by Divine G Entertainment, featuring a group of people exchanging money in a room.
Book cover for 'Trigger' by Divine G, featuring a subway train, bullet holes, and a brick building with a sign that reads 'Welcome to Breukelen Houses' and a mural with the words 'In the Name of Justice'.
Book cover for 'Time Jack' by John Whitfield, featuring a man standing inside a glowing, cylindrical device with one arm raised, set against a futuristic laboratory background with cityscape images in the upper background.
Cover of a music album titled 'Baby Doll' by Divine G Entertainment, featuring a girl lying on her back with her legs raised in the air, wearing a white shirt, denim shorts, and high heels, with a patterned headband.

The above works were published through Divine G Entertainment:

Money-Grip 2, No Other Love, The Canarsie Connection, TGONG, Time Jack, plus re-releases of the catalog in eBook, paperback, and audiobook

IN DEVELOPMENT

Divine G has adapted all of the above works into feature screenplays, and has several additional screenplays that are not novels, including Midnight 47, Haints, Innocent Blood, Mirari, etc., now being taken to producers. Media and industry inquiries welcome via the contact below.

INTERVIEW TOPICS

Divine G is a story-rich, remote-ready guest who can speak to:

  • From a cell to the Oscars — writing and publishing his way through incarceration, and watching his life become an A24 film

  • The autograph full circle — the book behind the movie, its life on Rikers Island, and why authenticity is everything in this genre

  • Rehabilitation through the arts — how writing and theater change lives inside, and the reform conversation around it

  • Building a company after release — turning a prison writing career into Divine G Entertainment

  • Writing as testimony — the wrongful-conviction fight, the courts' silence, and how the pen became his way through it (campaign: freedivineg.org)

  • Adapting the page for the screen — taking Money-Grip from novel to screenplay

The text 'A24' in black font on a white background.

FEATURED / AS SEEN IN

Gold Oscar trophy statue in front of a gold triangular background
Black background with white text reading 'SXSW'
The Gotham Film Awards logo with bold black text on a white background
Logo of BAM | Brooklyn Academy of Music
Critics Choice Association logo with five gold stars above the text
Toronto International Film Festival official selection logo with black laurels
NAACP Image Awards logo with a trophy on the left and orange lines in the background
The partial logo or text displaying the word 'siff' in black font on a white background.
Logo of Rotten Tomatoes with red background and white text.
The New York Times logo in black Gothic font.
Logo of the New York Amsterdam News with red background and white text
The logo of The Times newspaper, featuring the publication name in large black letters and the phrase 'Established 1785' in red below.
Chicago Tribune logo in blue text.
Golden Globes logo with black text and a gold globe in place of the letter 'O'.
Text overlay on a blurred background of red and dark colors, reading "DFW CFA" with smaller text underneath that says "Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association."
BAFTA logo featuring a stylized face silhouette and the word 'BAFTA'
Graphic poster for a radio station with yellow background and black text. It features a tall radio tower and the words: Unapologetically Progressive, Kola 1580 am, talk radio.
Fingerprint heart shape with a butterfly silhouette in the center and the letters RTA below.
The logo of The Boston Globe newspaper in blackletter font.
IMDb banner showing nominations for 3 Oscars, 70 wins, and 202 nominations total.
BAM Cinema Fest official selection logo with laurel wreath.
Logo of the Chicago Film Critics Association featuring a film strip and a stylized face

MEDIA ASSETS — downloads

DOWNLOAD LINKS — print-resolution files:

  • Headshots (high-res, at least one horizontal and one vertical)

  • On-set photos with Colman Domingo (captioned to the factual "portrayed me / on set of Sing Sing" relationship — not implied endorsement)

  • Book cover images (Money-Grip and full catalog)

  • One-page fact sheet (PDF)

  • Full press kit (ZIP of all the above + the three bios)

Usage note: please anchor any use of the on-set photos to the factual statement that Colman Domingo portrayed Divine G in Sing Sing; do not present them as an endorsement of the books.

THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

Divine G's story did not end at the screen. Imprisoned for 25 years for a crime he maintains he did not commit, he continues to fight for exoneration — now represented through the Deskovic Foundation, the innocence organization founded by exoneree Jeffrey Deskovic. His writing began as his testimony to that injustice, and it is why his body of work exists at all.

Learn more and add your name: freedivineg.org

For interviews, Divine G can speak candidly about the wrongful-conviction fight and the role writing played in surviving it.

CONTACT / BOOKING

Media, interviews & review copies: John “Divine G” Whitfield · divinegentertainment@gmail.com · 347-355-9083 - Website: www.divinegentertainment.com · Social:

Industry / screenplay inquiries: Divine G’s movie agent - Liz Hanley Raci, Bicoastal Talent and Literary, 2600 W Olive Ave. STE # 500, Burbank, CA 91505 - 818 845 0150 direct line