Jessa Crispin (born c. 1978 in

Lincoln, Kansas Lincoln Center, more commonly known as Lincoln, is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,171. History Settler George Green founded the town of Lincoln ...

) is a critic, author, feminist, and the editor-in-chief of ''Bookslut'', a

litblog A litblog (alternate: lit-blog or literary blog) is a blog that focuses primarily on the topic of literature. There is a community of litblogs in the blogosphere whose authors cover a variety of literary topics. An author of a litblog is called a ...

and webzine founded in 2002. She has published three books, most recently ''Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto'' (2017).

Early life

Crispin is from

; she has described both her hometown and upbringing in her family as very conservative. She attended

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Ar ...

in Kansas for two years before leaving without a degree.

Literary career

Crispin began her literary career as publishing outsider who started her blog ''Bookslut'' on the side while working at Planned Parenthood in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. She eventually came to support herself by writing and editing the site full-time. ''Bookslut'' ran for 14 years, with the last issue announced in May 2016. ''Bookslut'' received mentions in many national and international newspapers, including ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. In 2005 Crispin kept a diary about her work on books for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Crispin had a regular column in the online cultural journal ''The Smart Set'', published by Drexel University. She was a book critic for NPR and contributor to

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's ''

Need to Know The term "need to know", when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military or espionage), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if one ...

''. She has written for the ''New York Times'', the ''Washington Post'', ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' and ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

,'' among other publications. She wrote the afterword to Melville House Books' reissue of

Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...

's '' Billiards at Half-Past Nine''.

Personal life

In 2018, Crispin married Nicolás Rodríguez Melo, partly in order to sponsor his visa, and interviewed him for her Public Intellectual podcast about the performance of masculinity and femininity. She has criticized married women in the past: "Marriage’s history is about treating women as property, and by being married you’re legitimising that history."

Works

*''The Dead Ladies Project: Exiles, Expats, and Ex-Countries'' (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2015, ) *''The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2016, ) *''Why I Am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto'' (New York: Melville House, 2017, )

References

External links

Bookslut Official site
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crispin, Jessa Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 1970s births American women bloggers American bloggers American expatriates in Germany American feminist writers American literary critics Women literary critics People from Lincoln Center, Kansas 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women critics