Rising Stars: Meet Josh Green of Citywide, based in Kirkwood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Green.

Hi Josh, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Indiana fascinated by cities and urban dynamics—literally pressed against the window each time we’d pass another American skyline, large or small, on roadtrips in the big family van. I was a wildman, though, and got expelled from high school (some bullsh*t!) and landed in plenty of other interesting situations. All of that was a wakeup call. I finally got into college—let’s go Indiana State University Sycamores!—survived a couple Study Abroad adventures, and graduated with honors with degrees in journalism and creative writing.

I started working as a journalist by day, and channeling a different sort of energy into fiction by night.

An opportunity arose in 2007 to move from my walkable, beloved old Indianapolis neighborhood (shoutout to Broad Ripple!) for what seemed like a modern-day American boomtown in so many respects: Atlanta. I jumped at the chance to head south, if only for a while. Didn’t take long to fall for this green, hilly, eclectic, funky, flawed, pretty, welcoming, capricious, and rapidly evolving metropolis.

As a journalist, I’ve covered basically all subjects, from kiddie pageants to quadruple murder trials. But I found I really like chronicling the evolution of Atlanta, which is just endlessly fascinating to me. I left a full-time newspaper desk and took a chance on heading an upstart website called Curbed Atlanta in 2012. That wild ride—after years of hard work, we’d grown to have far more individual readers on a monthly basis than there are PEOPLE in the City of Atlanta—ended at the outset of the pandemic.

I was on deadline with Atlanta magazine on the day my whole staff lost their jobs—and I never paused working. In fact, I wrote a novel in about three months, which is really freakin’ hard to do. It’s set to publish next year.

The layoff, however painful and frustrating, was a blessing in disguise. It led me to the opportunity to start Urbanize Atlanta as founding editor, and January will mark five years—unbelievably!—since launch. It allows for much more creative freedoms, plus complete local control, and the support from Atlanta’s reading public has exceeded expectations. We’re very grateful for that. I’m still working day and night to build Urbanize Atlanta, but the next step is hiring staff and really building the business in Atlanta. We’re not far from that milestone now.

Meanwhile, I’ve published two novels in two years—and a book of short stories, mostly set in Atlanta, back in 2013.

The book of stories is called Dirtyville Rhapsodies.

The novels are SECRETS OF ASH (2023) and more recently GOODBYE, SWEETBERRY PARK (2025). Both have won awards and scored tons of media attention—and I’m very grateful for that.

GOODBYE, SWEETBERRY PARK is a darkly comedic take on gentrification, NIMBYism, and modern cities today—plus extremely dangerous snakes. It was directly inspired by both Curbed Atlanta and Urbanize Atlanta work.

That book won Grand Prize at the 19th annual Hollywood Book Festival a couple of months ago. There’s an awards ceremony coming up in Los Angeles next year.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hell no. It’s been nothing but challenges, struggle, setbacks, and diligence in not giving up—especially concerning the creative writing pursuits. I’ve been rejected probably a thousand times, and that’s not exaggerating. I’ve had two good literary agents drop me to leave the business. I’ve had an offer from one of the largest publishing companies in the world fall apart. None of this is uncommon, but it still royally sucks.

Also, it’s not the easiest era to be a working, prospering journalist these days. The halcyon days of martini lunches and huge expense accounts are history. But I feel that writing is what I was put here to do, and it’s what I love. So might as well keep at it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Fiction author.
Editor of Urbanize Atlanta.
Longtime contributor, Atlanta magazine.
Freelance writer, various magazines and newspapers.

What does success mean to you?
I’ll let you know when I’m 88. The goal is to look back across the landscape and see failure and pain and hardship and great tidings but not a wisp of regret smoke.

Pricing:

• Goodbye, Sweetberry Park: $19.99 for paperback; $9.99 ebook

Contact Info:

• Website: https://atlanta.urbanize.city/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshgreenatlwriter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josh.green.3910/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-green-a9ab562ba/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JoshGreen1234

Image Credits
My headshot credit: Lola Green

Other pics are by me, or I own the rights.

Book cover by Siori Kitajima