HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' best-selling essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti'' (2011), the novel ''
An Untamed State ''An Untamed State'' is the debut novel of writer Roxane Gay, first published in 2014 by Grove Atlantic. Plot Mireille Duval Jameson is born and raised in the United States, her parents are from Haitian descent. Her parents move back to Haiti. ...
'' (2014), the short story collection ''
Difficult Women ''Difficult Women'' is a literary-folk music cabaret created in 1992, in Melbourne, by Lin Van Hek and Joe Dolce and has been performing internationally for 15 years. History ''Difficult Women'', a name taken from the Salem witch trials, ...
'' (2017), and the memoir ''
Hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic Human nutrition, nutritional needs for a sustaine ...
'' (2017). Gay was an assistant professor at
Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...
for four years before joining
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
as an associate professor of English. In 2018, she left Purdue to become a visiting professor at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
. Gay is a contributing opinion writer at ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', founder of Tiny Hardcore Press, essays editor for '' The Rumpus'', co-editor of PANK, a nonprofit literary arts collective, and the editor for ''Gay Mag'', which was founded in partnership with
Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...
.


Early life

Gay was born in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...
, to Michael and Nicole Gay, both of
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
an descent. Her mother was a homemaker and her father is owner of GDG Béton et Construction, a Haitian concrete company. Gay is a cousin of
Claudine Gay Claudine Gay is a political scientist and university administrator. On July 1, 2023 she will become the 30th and first Black President of Harvard University. She serves as Harvard's Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and A ...
. Gay was raised
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and spent her summers visiting family in Haiti. She attended high school at
Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...
in
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. Gay began writing essays as a teenager, with much of her early work being influenced by her experience with childhood sexual violence. Her parents were relatively wealthy, supporting her through college and paying her rent until she was 30. Gay began her
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
studies at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, but dropped out in her junior year to pursue a relationship in Arizona. She completed her undergraduate degree at Vermont College of
Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campu ...
, and also earned a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
with an emphasis in creative writing from the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...
. Gay received a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from
Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michiga ...
in 2010. She was inducted into the
Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University i ...
Circle. Her dissertation is titled ''Subverting the Subject Position: Toward a New Discourse About Students as Writers and Engineering Students as Technical Communicators.'' Dr. Ann Brady served as her dissertation advisor.


Career

After completing her Ph.D., Gay began her academic teaching career in 2010 at
Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...
, where she was assistant professor of English. While at EIU, she was a contributing editor for ''Bluestem'' magazine, and she also founded Tiny Hardcore Press. Gay worked at Eastern Illinois University until the end of the 2013–14 academic year. She was an associate professor of creative writing in the
Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts ...
program at
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
from August 2014 until 2018. Gay announced her departure from Purdue in October 2018, voicing concerns about the fairness of her compensation and noting Purdue had failed to address the issue. For the spring of 2019 Gay was serving as a visiting professor at Yale University. Gay published a short-story collection, ''Ayiti'' (2011), then two books in 2014: the novel ''
An Untamed State ''An Untamed State'' is the debut novel of writer Roxane Gay, first published in 2014 by Grove Atlantic. Plot Mireille Duval Jameson is born and raised in the United States, her parents are from Haitian descent. Her parents move back to Haiti. ...
'' and the essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014). A ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' review noted: "Gay's writing is simple and direct, but never cold or sterile. She directly confronts complex issues of identity and privilege, but it's always accessible and insightful."


Projects


''An Untamed State''

In 2014, Gay published her debut novel, ''An Untamed State,'' which centers around Mireille Duval Jameson, a Haitian-American woman who is kidnapped for ransom. The novel explores the interconnected themes of race, privilege, sexual violence, family, and the immigrant experience. ''An Untamed State'' is often referred to as a fairy tale because of its structure and style, especially in reference to the opening sentence, "Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones," and the author's exploration of the American dream and courtship of Mireille's parents. ''
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 ...
'' review by Attica Locke calling it "a breathtaking debut novel," 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 n ...
'' crediting it as "a smart, searing novel."


''Bad Feminist''

Gay's collection of essays, ''Bad Feminist'', was released in 2014 to widespread acclaim; it addresses both cultural and political issues, and became a ''New York Times'' best-seller. A ''Time'' magazine reviewer dubbed ''Bad Feminist'' "a manual on how to be human," and called Gay the "gift that keeps on giving." In a 2014 interview with the magazine, Gay explained her role as a
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, and how it has influenced her writing: "In each of these essays, I'm very much trying to show how feminism influences my life for better or worse. It just shows what it's like to move through the world as a woman. It's not even about feminism per se, it's about humanity and empathy." In ''
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 ...
'', critic
Kira Cochrane Kira Cochrane (; born 1977) is a British journalist and novelist. She is the Head of Features at '' The Guardian,'' and worked previously as Head of Opinion. Cochrane is an advocate for women's rights, as well as an active participant in fourth ...
offered a similar assessment, "While online discourse is often characterised by extreme, polarised opinions, her writing is distinct for being subtle and discursive, with an ability to see around corners, to recognise other points of view while carefully advancing her own. In print, on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and in person, Gay has the voice of the friend you call first for advice, calm and sane as well as funny, someone who has seen a lot and takes no prisoners." A group of feminist scholars and activists analyzed Gay's ''Bad Feminist'' for "Short Takes: Provocations on Public Feminism", an initiative of the feminist journal ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society''.


''World of Wakanda''

In July 2016, Gay and poet Yona Harvey were announced as writers for
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
' '' World of Wakanda'', a spin-off from the company's
Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been ...
title, making them the first black women to be lead writers for Marvel. Six issues of the comic were published. ''Black Panther: World of Wakanda'' was hailed for its prominent portrayal of
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 ...
characters. The comic followed the journey of two lovers Aneka and Ayo, who are former members of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther's female security force. The series follows the pair through multiple events, including the siege of their city by Thanos and the flooding of Wakanda by Namor. The series' cancellation was confirmed in June 2017 by Gay, just two days after the premiere of the trailer for the ''
Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been ...
'' movie. The last issue released in March 2017. Marvel stated no official reason for the cancellation; however, feminist tech site ''The Mary Sue'' pointed to a connection with Marvel's knock against "diversity titles" and Marvel VP David Gabriel's statement that "people didn't want any more diversity. They didn't want female characters out there. That's what we heard, whether we believe that or not. I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales."


''Difficult Women''

In 2017, Gay published ''Difficult Women'', a collection of short stories that highlight women who have lives that differ from society's spectrum of a normal life. Each story follows a different character and her journey through either a traumatic experience or what makes her different from societal norms. The stories explore difficult and complex topics such as the intertwined relationship of sex and violence.


''Hunger''

''Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body'' was released in June 2017. Throughout, Gay discusses her experience with weight, body image, and building a positive relationship with food, particularly following her experience as a childhood victim of sexual violence. In fact, the novel is divided into two sections, "The Before" and "The After" with the day of her rape being the dividing event. At 12 years old, Gay was lured into a cabin by her then-boyfriend and gang raped by him and his friends. She describes the event as the catalyst for her rapid weight gain and lifelong issues with both her body and sexuality. Gay described the book as a testimony of "what it's like to live in a world that tried to discipline unruly bodies." The memoir received wide acclaim, praised by critics as "remarkable... ferociously honest," "arresting and candid," and "intimate and vulnerable." Following her national book tour in support of ''Hunger,'' Gay said she found press around the book "to be very challenging, because people just don't know how to talk about fat." In June 2017, Australian website '' Mamamia'' published an interview with Gay, revealing numerous details about how they prepared for her visit, which they described as a "logistical nightmare" because of the apparent consequence of her weight. On
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, Gay later described these preparations, including questions like “Will she fit into the office lift?” as both "cruel and humiliating". In an interview with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,'' Gay stated the controversial event was "helpful, in that I think people get to see, in real time, what fat-phobia looks like and just how careless people can be in considering that fat people deserve dignity. So I suppose it's a useful example of why I wrote the book." At a February 2019 speaking event at
USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...
, in the Q&A, supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party criticized co-speaker
Amanda Nguyen Amanda N. Nguyen (born 1991) is a social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and the CEO and founder of Rise, a non-governmental civil rights organization. She was involved in proposing and drafting the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, whi ...
's work in the U.S. government during the
War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
; in response, Gay defended Nguyen on Twitter.


''Not That Bad''

Gay was the editor of the anthology titled ''Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture''. The collection, published in 2018 by
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...
, features essays from Gay and 29 other authors, including Stacey May Fowles,
Lyz Lenz Lyz Lenz is an American author and editor. She was previously a columnist at '' The Cedar Rapids Gazette'' and served as managing editor of ''The Rumpus''. She is the author of ''God Land'' and ''Belabored''. Life and career Lenz moved from Ve ...
, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Ally Sheedy, Brandon Taylor, and
Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That ...
.


''Gay Magazine''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...
approached Gay in 2017 about the possibility of starting a "pop-up" magazine for the online publishing platform. The magazine would specialize in cultural criticism and provide pay for writers including Gay's work in an editorial capacity. The weekly online publication was produced with Medium's Deputy Editor Laura June and Managing Editor Kaitlyn Adams. The first issue, published in late April 2019, featured essays by Athena Dixon and Grace Lavery. In May 2019, Gay and Medium formally launched the new publication, ''Gay Magazine''. The short-lived journal was also referred to on Medium as ''GAY The Magazine--The Best Stories About Culture'' and ''Gay Mag''. The first of the planned quarterly themed editions appeared in June 2019; public submissions were solicited in addition to the commissioned articles. The final issue of Medium's ''Gay Magazine'' was themed 'Power' and was posted on April 3, 2020, during the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
pandemic's global lockdowns. In October 2019, when asked about ''Gay Magazine'', Gay responded, "I'm doing what I always aim to do as an editor, which is to create a literary space for a range of voices who have something smart and interesting to say — and more importantly, to be able to pay them well. One of the biggest challenges of the digital media landscape is that the money is concentrated at the top and it rarely trickles down to the editors and writers, so to be able to have the support of Medium to create a publication — for however long it lasts – where we can pay people equitably and fairly is a really great thing. There is so much good writing going on out there, and I love being able to have a small hand in bringing that into the world."


''Unruly Bodies''

In April 2018, Gay partnered with the online publishing platform
Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...
to create a month-long pop-up magazine called ''Unruly Bodies''. The magazine explored the relationship people share with their bodies, through an
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...
of essays by 25 writers (including Gay herself). Gay asked the 24 writers, "What does it mean to live in an unruly body?"; her book dealing with such issues, ''Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body'', had been published in 2017. In a 2018 interview, Gay said, "I was surprised because I expected that I might get a lot of repetition, of ubject not of style, but people wrote about all kinds of things. They wrote about gender, size, gun violence, wrestling, sex, ability. The range of issues from that one prompt, with the way that writers responded, was wonderful, and affirmed that I made very good choices in the writers that I approached." In April 2018, over a year before the actual launch of the online magazine, "Gay Magazine" posted 25 articles in response to Gay's query under the heading ''Unruly Bodies''; the writers were:
Kaveh Akbar Kaveh Akbar (کاوه اکبر) is an Iranian-American poet and scholar. Early life and education Akbar was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1989, and grew up across the United States including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Indiana. He moved ...
, Gabrielle Bellot, S. Bear Bergman, Keah Brown, Meghan Carpentier, Mike Copperman, Jennine Capó Crucet, Kelly Davio, Mensah Demary, Danielle Evans, Roxane Gay, Casey Hannan,
Samantha Irby Samantha McKiver Irby (born February 13, 1980) is an American comedian, essayist, blogger, and television writer. She is the creator and author of the blog ''bitches gotta eat'', where she writes humorous observations about her own life and moder ...
,
Randa Jarrar Randa Jarrar (born 1978) is an American writer and translator. Her first novel, the coming-of-age story ''A Map of Home'' (2008), won her the Hopwood Award, and an Arab American Book Award. Since then she has published short stories, essays, the ...
,
Kima Jones Kima Jones (born ) is an American writer, poet and literary publicist. She is the founder of the Jack Jones Literary Arts, a literary publicity firm. Early life and education Jones was born circa 1982 in Harlem, New York (in particular, the ...
, Kiese Laymon,
Carmen Maria Machado ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
, Terese Mailhot,
Mary Anne Mohanraj Mary Anne Amirthi Mohanraj (born July 26, 1971) is an American writer, editor, and academic of Sri Lankan birth. Background Mohanraj was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka but moved to the United States at the age of two and grew up in New Britain, Co ...
, Brian Oliu, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Larissa Pham, Matthew Salesses, Chelsea G. Summers and Your Fat Friend.


''The Banks''

In December 2019, comic book publisher TKO Studios launched ''The Banks'' by Gay. ''The Banks'' is a heist thriller about the most successful thieves in Chicago: the women of the Banks family. TKO Studios announced in 2020 a partnering with Macro (whose films have garnered nine Oscar nominations and one Oscar win for
Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...
in ''
Fences A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary. Fence or fences may also refer to: Entertainment Music * Fences (band), an Amer ...
'') to produce a film adaptation of the graphic novel. The screenplay is to be written by Gay, who is also serving as executive producer.


''The Audacity''

In January 2021, Gay debuted her newsletter ''The Audacity'', featuring essays by herself and emerging writers on a bi-weekly basis. It is also home to The Audacious Book Club, which features one book per month highlighting new works from underrepresented American writers. It started with ''Black Futures'' by Kimberly Drew and
Jenna Wortham Jenna Wortham is an American journalist. They work as a culture writer for '' The New York Times Magazine'' and co-hosts ''The New York Times'' podcast ''Still Processing'' with Wesley Morris. In 2020, with Kimberly Drew, Wortham published '' B ...
, followed by Torrey Peters' debut novel ''Detransition, Baby'' in February. Also featured in 2021 are books by Brandon Hobson, Ashley C. Ford, and
Anthony Veasna So Anthony Veasna So (February 20, 1992 – December 8, 2020) was an American writer. His short stories were described by ''The New York Times'' as "crackling, kinetic and darkly comedic" and often drew from his upbringing as a child of Cambodian i ...
.


Other projects

Gay was the editor of ''The Butter,'' an online feminist writing site and sister site to '' The Toast,'' from November 2014 to August 2015. ''The Butter'' featured writing on subjects including disability, literature, family, and music. ''The Butter'' ceased publishing in August 2015, with Gay stating she was "simply stretched too thin." Gay was a U.S. ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
'' columnist from 2015 to 2018. Gay was the guest judge and guest editor of ''
The Masters Review ''The Masters Review'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2011 by founding editor Kim Winternheimer, the publication serves a platform for publishing and discovering new and emerging w ...
'' annual fiction anthology in 2017. Gay was featured in a five-minute segment of ''
This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...
'' on June 17, 2016, talking about her body, and how she is perceived as a fat person. Gay announced in January 2017 that she was pulling her book ''How to Be Heard'', originally set to be published in 2018 by TED Books, an imprint of
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
, due to her objections to
alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
journalist
Milo Yiannopoulos Milo Yiannopoulos (; born Milo Hanrahan, 18 October 1984), who has also published as Milo Andreas Wagner and the mononym Milo, is a British alt-right political commentator. His speeches and writings often ridicule Islam, feminism, social jus ...
receiving a book deal from another Simon & Schuster imprint. She also edited the book ''Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies''. In addition to her regular contributions to ''Salon'' and the now-defunct ''HTMLGiant'', her writing has appeared in ''Best American Mystery Stories 2014'', ''Best American Short Stories 2012'', ''Best Sex Writing 2012'', ''A Public Space'', ''
McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved t ...
'', ''
Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer of 1998. He enlisted Holly MacArt ...
'', ''
Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on '' ...
'', ''American Short Fiction'', ''West Branch'', '' Virginia Quarterly Review'', ''NOON'', ''
Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature that was based in New York City, New York. The magazine was founded in 1994 and announced in December of 2022 it would cease publishing after 2 ...
'', ''Time'', ''
The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''. She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''
Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...
'', edited by
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Le ...
. Gay was featured in the 2016 book ''In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs.'' In July 2019, Gay launched a book club on HBO's ''
Vice News Tonight ''Vice News Tonight'' is an American news program currently broadcast on Vice on TV and originally broadcast on HBO as the channel's first-ever daily series, premiering October 2016. HBO cancelled the series after three seasons, ending September ...
''. In 2019, Gay partnered with Tressie McMillan Cottom to create a
black feminist Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...
podcast titled ''Hear To Slay'', which was set to feature influential black women as guests, including
Stacey Abrams Stacey Yvonne Abrams (; born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member ...
,
Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That ...
, and Ava DuVernay.


Awards and honors

In 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ
Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events som ...
, ''
Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...
'' named Gay among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people". She was also included in the 2022 Fast Company Queer 50 list.


Themes

Much of Gay's written work deals with the analysis and deconstruction of feminist and racial issues through the lens of her personal experiences with race, gender identity, and sexuality.


Role in the Kate Elizabeth Russell disclosure

On January 29, 2020, ''Gay Magazine'' published an essay alleging that Kate Elizabeth Russell's then-forthcoming novel ''My Dark Vanessa'' shared "eerie story similarities" to
Wendy C. Ortiz Wendy C. Ortiz (born 1973) is an American essayist, creative nonfiction writer, fiction writer, psychotherapist, and poet. Background Wendy C. Ortiz was born in Los Angeles, California in 1973. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts ...
's memoir, calling ''My Dark Vanessa'' "fictionalized, sensationalized." Ortiz's memoir and ''My Dark Vanessa'' share themes of intergenerational sexual abuse by a teacher, yet the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
has reported that " viewers who looked at both books saw no evidence of plagiarism," though the ''Gay Magazine'' article ran with an illustration of one artist copying the work of another.In response to these allegations,
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...
dropped ''My Dark Vanessa'' from her influential book club. The ''Gay Magazine'' allegations prompted Russell to state that ''My Dark Vanessa'' was not appropriated from other work but inspired by her own experience as a sexual abuse survivor, a disclosure she'd never before revealed. Russell stated, "I do not believe that we should compel victims to share the details of their personal trauma with the public."


Personal life

Gay is
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
. In October 2019, she became engaged to artist and writer
Debbie Millman Debbie Millman is an American writer, educator, artist, curator, and designer who is best known as the host of the podcast '' Design Matters''. She has authored six books and is the President Emeritus of the American Institute of Graphic Arts ...
. In August 2020, Gay revealed that they had eloped. In January 2018, Gay revealed that she had undergone
sleeve gastrectomy Sleeve gastrectomy is a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 15% of its original size, by surgical removal of a large portion of the stomach along the greater curvature. The result is a sleeve or tube like struc ...
, a
bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery (or weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese. Long term weight loss through the standard of care procedures ( Roux en-Y bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversio ...
that removes 85% of the stomach. She is tall.


Works


Fiction

* * * *Gay, Roxane (2019).
The Banks
'' TKO Studios


Non-fiction

* *


Selected short fiction

* *


Other selected works

*


References


External links

* * * *
"Confessions of a bad feminist" (TEDWomen 2015)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Roxane 1974 births 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century publishers (people) African-American comics creators African-American feminists African-American novelists African-American publishers (people) American publishers (people) African-American short story writers African-American women writers American bloggers American book editors American book publishers (people) American feminist writers American magazine editors 21st-century American memoirists American online publication editors American Scrabble players American women essayists American women novelists American women short story writers American writers of Haitian descent Bisexual writers Bisexual women Eastern Illinois University faculty Feminist theorists LGBT African Americans LGBT memoirists American LGBT novelists LGBT people from Nebraska Living people Marvel Comics writers Michigan Technological University alumni The New York Times writers Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Purdue University faculty American women memoirists American women bloggers Women book publishers (people) Writers from Omaha, Nebraska Novelists from Illinois Novelists from Indiana Lambda Literary Award winners Women magazine editors Female comics writers LGBT comics creators Bisexual academics 21st-century African-American writers