Melissa Febos

Melissa Febos is an American writer and professor.^[1] She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Whip Smart (2010)^[2][3], and the essay collections, Abandon Me (2017) and Girlhood (2021).

Early life and education

Febos grew up in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Her father was a sea captain, and her mother a therapist. She left home at 16 after passing the GED, moved to Boston, and worked at an assortment of jobs including as a boatyard hand and as a chambermaid. She attended night courses at Harvard Extension School, then enrolled in The New School and moved to New York City in August 1999. She later earned an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College.^[3]

Career

Febos is the author of Whip Smart (St Martin's Press 2010), a memoir of her work as a professional dominatrix while she was studying at The New School.^[2][4][5][6] Her second book, the lyric essay collection Abandon Me, was published by Bloomsbury Publishing on February 28, 2017.^[7] Abandon Me was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist and a Publishing Triangle Award finalist,^[8] and one of the best reviewed books of 2017.^[9] Her third book and second essay collection, Girlhood, was published by Bloomsbury Publishing on March 30, 2021.^[10][11] It was a national bestseller.^[12] Describing Girlhood, The New York Times wrote, "The aim of this book, though, is not simply to tell about her own life, but to listen to the pulses of many others’...This solidarity puts “Girlhood” in a feminist canon that includes Febos’s idol, Adrienne Rich, and Maggie Nelson’s theory-minded masterpieces: smart, radical company, and not ordinary at all."^[13] A craft book, Body Work, was published by Catapult in 2022.^[14]

Febos was the co-curator, with Rebecca Keith, of the monthly Mixer Reading and Music series on the Lower East Side for ten years.^[15] A four-time MacDowell Colony fellow, she has received fellowships from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Her essays have won awards from Prairie Schooner and StoryQuarterly, and for five years she was on the Board of Directors of Vida: Women in Literary Arts. Febos has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The Paris Review, Salon, Bomb, Hunger Mountain, Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review, Tin House, Granta, Post Road, Dissent, Vogue, The Believer, The Sewanee Review, Bitch Magazine and The Chronicle of Higher Education.^[3]

Febos has taught at SUNY Purchase College, the Gotham Writers' Workshop, The New School, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Utica College. Until 2020, she was an Associate Professor and MFA Director at Monmouth University.^[16] Febos currently works as a Full Professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program.^[17]

Media

Whip Smart resulted in a front-page appearance on the cover of the New York Post, a feature interview on NPR's radio program Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a guest appearance on Anderson Cooper's talk show, and an appearance on CNN's Dr. Drew show.

Abandon Me was one of the best reviewed essay collections of 2017 and a Lambda Literary Award finalist.^[9] The New Yorker called it "mesmerizing" and wrote that "the sheer fearlessness of the narrative is captivating."^[18]

Girlhood was featured on Morning Joe on MSNBC,^[19] and on multiple NPR programs. Girlhood won the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism.^[20]

Her fourth book, Body Work, was a national bestseller and Los Angeles Times Bestseller.^[21]

Personal life

Febos identifies as queer. She lives in Iowa with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly.^[22]

She spoke at House of SpeakEasy's Seriously Entertaining program about her childhood and rethinking often-normalized experiences of bullying.^[23]

Awards

• 2010 MacDowell Colony Fellowship^[24]
• 2011 MacDowell Colony Fellowship
• 2012 Bread Loaf Writers Conference Fellowship
• 2013 The Prairie Schooner Creative Nonfiction Prize
• 2013 The Barbara Deming Memorial Fund fellowship
• 2014 Virginia Center for Creative Arts Residency
• 2014 A Story Quarterly Essay Prize
• 2014 MacDowell Colony Fellowship
• 2015 The Center for Women Writers Creative Nonfiction Prize
• 2015 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Process Space residency
• 2015 Vermont Studio Center fellowship
• 2017 Ragdale Residency
• 2018 The Sarah Verdone Writing Award, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council^[25]
• 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist in Memoir/Biography^[26]
• 2018 The Publishing Triangle finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction^[27]
• 2018 Lambda Literary's Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction^[28]
• 2018 BAU Institute fellowship at The Camargo Foundation
• 2018 Vermont Studio Center fellowship
• 2020 MacDowell Colony Fellowship
• 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism^[29]
• 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship^[30]
• 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship in Nonfiction^[31]

Bibliography

• Whip Smart. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. 2010. ISBN 9780312583781.
• Abandon Me. New York, New York: Bloomsbury USA. 2017. ISBN 9781632866585.
• Girlhood. New York, New York: Bloomsbury USA. 2021. ISBN 9781635572520.
• Body Work. New York, New York: Catapult Publishing. 2022. ISBN 9781646220854.

References

1. Rohin Guha. ‘Whip Smart’’s Melissa Febos on Diets, Dudes and Dominatrix-ing, Black Book Mag, Feb 23, 2010
2. Alyssa Fetini Friday, Inside the Secret World of a Dominatrix, Time Magazine, March 19, 2010
3. 'Whip Smart': Memoirs Of A Dominatrix, NPR, March 8, 2010. Interview
4. Susannah Cahalan, A fine line between pleasure and pain, The Daily Telegraph February 27, 2010.
5. Alicia Rancilio, Melissa Febos' `Whip Smart' describes her life as a dominatrix, Washington Examiner, March 12, 2010
6. Dave Rosenthal. Melissa Febos' Whip Smart, The Baltimore Sun, March 8, 2010
7. 'Abandon Me,' Bloomsbury Publishing
8. Kristen Millares Young (2021-04-04) [2021-03-27]. "Melissa Febos's 'Girlhood' brilliantly illuminates how women are conditioned to be complicit in their own exploitation". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.^{[please check these dates]}
9. "The Best Reviewed Books of 2017:Essay Collections". Book Marks.
10. . melissafebos.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-20.
11. "Melissa Febos Reveals Gray Areas of Sex and Consent in 'Girlhood'". www.advocate.com. 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
12. Bloomsbury.com. "Girlhood". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
13. Bonner, Betsy (2021-03-30). "Puberty, Slut-Shaming and Cuddle Parties in Melissa Febos's 'Girlhood'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
14. "Word Works | Melissa Febos: In Praise of the Confessional". Hugo House. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
15. "Rebecca Keith - The Rumpus.net". The Rumpus. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
16. Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences
17. "Melissa Febos". College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
18. "Briefly Noted Book Reviews". The New Yorker. 3 July 2017.
19. "'Girlhood' looks at the trauma of adolescence". MSNBC.
20. "Girlhood by Melissa Febos: 2021 Criticism Finalist". National Book Critics Circle. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
21. "Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative (Paperback) | Prairie Lights Books". www.prairielightsbooks.com. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
22. "Rebel girls". Salon. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
23. "Seriously Entertaining: Melissa Febos on "From This Moment On"". YouTube. 2021-03-23.
24. "Monmouth University: Melissa Febos, MFA". Monmouth University. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
25. "Calendar".
26. "30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". 6 March 2018.
27. "Home". publishingtriangle.org.
28. "Winner Announced for Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction". 15 May 2018.
29. Schaub, Michael (17 March 2022). "Announcing the Winners of the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Awards". National Book Critics Circle.
30. "Melissa Febos".
31. "Announcements".

External links

• Official website