Lyz Lenz is an American author and editor. She was previously a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

at ''

The Cedar Rapids Gazette ''The Gazette'' is a daily newspaper, print newspaper and online news source published in the United States, American city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The first paper was published as an evening journal, branded the ''Evening Gazette'', on Wednesday, ...

'' and served as managing editor of ''

The Rumpus ''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as original fiction and poetry. The site runs two subscription-base ...

''. She is the author of ''God Land'' and ''Belabored''.

Life and career

Lenz moved from

Vermillion, South Dakota Vermillion ( lkt, Waséoyuze; "The Place Where Vermilion is Obtained") is a city in and the county seat of Clay County. It is in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, United States, and is the state's 12th-largest city. According to the 2020 ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

while in high school and graduated from Eden Prairie High School. She has an undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College. Lenz belonged to

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

churches but came into conflict with their orthodoxies including on the role of women in the church and the exclusion of gay and lesbian people. Lenz's writing has been published by publications including the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''The Gazette.'' A divorced mother, she wrote in '' Glamour'' about her self-imposed 2-year hiatus from cooking''.'' In September 2019, Lenz was a moderator for an

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

discussion with U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden,

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

, and

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. Lenz's first book, titled ''God Land'' explores her personal experiences and the role of religion and politics in rural America during the Trump era. Her second book, ''Belabored'', focuses on the rights and autonomy that pregnant women ought to be afforded, the ways in which religion and politics impacts how pregnant women are treated in the U.S., and her own experience being pregnant.

Bibliography

*''Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women'', August 11, 2020, Bold Type Books * ''God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America'', August 1, 2019, Indiana University Press *"All the Angry Women", essay in the anthology ''Not that Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture'' edited by

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayit ...

*"Cottonwood Creek", essay in the anthology ''Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church'' edited by Chrissy Stroop and Lauren O'Neal

References

External links

Official websiteList and links
to Lenz's writings at Contently
C-Span
appearance for her book ''Godland'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenz, Lyz Living people American women columnists American online publication editors Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Journalists from South Dakota 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 1982 births