Samantha Irby
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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 modern society more broadly. Her books ''We Are Never Meeting in Real Life'' and ''Wow, No Thank You.'' were both ''New York Times'' best-sellers. She is a recipient of the 2021
Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...
for bisexual nonfiction. She has been a writer and/or co-producer for TV shows including HBO's reboot of ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...
'', ''
Work in Progress Work in process (WIP), work in progress (WIP), goods in process, or in-process inventory refers to a company's partially finished goods waiting for completion and eventual sale, or the value of these items. The term is used in supply chain managem ...
'', '' Shrill'', and ''
Tuca & Bertie ''Tuca & Bertie'' is an American animated sitcom created by cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt for Netflix. It began streaming on May 3, 2019. It stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, with a supporting cast including Steven Yeun, John Early, Richard E. Gra ...
''. In 2016, FX announced that they had purchased the television rights to Irby's 2013 memoir ''Meaty'' and her blog, with the intent to adapt them into a series.


Early life

Samantha McKiver Irby’s middle name is her maternal grandmother's maiden name. She was born on February 13, 1980, and grew up in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
. She attended Evanston Township High School. Her mother was a nurse. In several interviews and books, Irby has discussed caring for her mother, who had
multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This ...
, as a teenager. Irby attended
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...
, but dropped out after her mother's death. Her father was in and out of her life. His death - from hypothermia after suffering multiple heart attacks and strokes - happened 6 months prior to her mother's death. Irby began writing in the late 2000s when she started a Myspace blog.


Work

In her blog ''bitches gotta eat'', Irby offers an unvarnished and humorous accounting of challenges she has faced in her personal life and talks about various topics, including her sex life and her battles with
Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distensi ...
. She began the blog in 2009. Irby also co-hosted the live lit show ''Guts and Glory'' in Chicago with Keith Ecker until 2015, when the show ended its run. She has co-hosted ''The Sunday Night Sex Show'', performed in several shows, including The Paper Machete and Story Club, and her work has appeared in ''
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 ...
'', ''In Our Words'', and ''
Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and
) was the daughte ...
''. Irby has published five books: ''We Are Never Meeting in Real Life''; ''Meaty''; ''New Year, Same Trash''; ''Wow, No Thank You;'' and ''Quietly Hostile.'' ''Meaty'' was originally published by Curbside Splendor Publishing in 2013, then republished in 2018 with
Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...
. It is in development for adaptation as a television show on FX called ''Guts and Glory'', with comedian
Abbi Jacobson Abbi Jacobson is an American comedian, writer, actress, illustrator and producer. She co-created and co-starred in the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'' (2014–2019) with Ilana Glazer, based on the web series of the same name. Her ...
and writer
Jessi Klein Jessi Ruth Klein (born August 18, 1975) is an American writer, actress and stand-up comedian from New York City. Klein has regularly appeared on shows such as ''The Showbiz Show with David Spade'' and VH1's ''Best Week Ever'' and has performed s ...
. In 2017, Irby's second book ''We Are Never Meeting in Real Life'' was published by Vintage Books. It made ''The New York Times'' best-seller list for paperback nonfiction. The fourth collection of essays, ''Wow, No Thank You'', was released in March 2020. Irby stated on her social media pages that her book tour would be online due to
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 ...
. The book debuted in the New York Times best-seller list's number one spot for Paperback Nonfiction. In 2018, Irby wrote an episode for the first season of '' Shrill''. The episode, titled ''Pool'', was the fourth episode of the first season and was released on March 15, 2019. In February 2021, Irby was announced as a co-producer and writer on '' And Just Like That...'', the HBO reboot of ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...
.'' She was the lead writer of Season 1 Episode 5 entitled "Tragically Hip." Her essay collection ''Wow, No Thank You.'' was named the winner of the
Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...
for Bisexual Non-Fiction at the 33rd Lambda Literary Awards in 2021. In July 2021, Irby wrote an episode for the second season of ''
Tuca & Bertie ''Tuca & Bertie'' is an American animated sitcom created by cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt for Netflix. It began streaming on May 3, 2019. It stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, with a supporting cast including Steven Yeun, John Early, Richard E. Gra ...
'' titled ''Vibe Check''.


Personal life

Irby married in 2016. She now lives and works in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Irby has been open about her struggles with
Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distensi ...
, degenerative arthritis, and depression, often discussing her experiences in her writing. She is friends with writers
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 ...
and
Lindy West Lindy West (born March 9, 1982) is an American writer, comedian and activist. She is the author of the essay collection '' Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman'' and a contributing opinion writer for ''The New York Times''. The topics she writes abou ...
.


Publications

* ''Meaty'' (2013, Curbside Splendor Publishing: : 2018, Vintage) * ''New Year, Same Trash: Resolutions I Absolutely Did Not Keep'' (2017,
Vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
, e-book: ) * ''We Are Never Meeting in Real Life'' (2017, Vintage: ) * "Country Crock" in ''Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America'' (eds.
Samhita Mukhopadhyay Samhita Mukhopadhyay (born May 3, 1978) is an American writer and former executive editor of ''Teen Vogue''. She writes about feminism, culture, race, politics, and dating. She is the author of ''Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life'' and ...
and Kate Harding, 2017,
Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...
: ) * ''Wow, No Thank You.: Essays'', (March 2020, Vintage, ) * ''Quietly Hostile'' (May 2023,
Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...
, )


References


Citations


Works cited

*


External links

*
Abbi Jacobson and Sam Irby on A Piece of Work podcast, WNYC Studios/MoMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irby, Samantha Living people 1980 births Writers from Chicago Comedians from Illinois African-American female comedians American women bloggers American bloggers American LGBT writers LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Illinois LGBT people from Michigan American women comedians 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American comedians Lambda Literary Award winners 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Evanston Township High School alumni 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Bisexual comedians