Sassafras Lowrey

Sassafras Lowrey (born 1983 or 1984) is an author and dog trainer. In 2013, the Lambda Literary Foundation awarded them^{[nb 1]} the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award.^[1][2]

Lowrey is non-binary and uses ze/hir^{[nb 1]} pronouns.^[3]

Personal life

In the early 2000s, at age 17, Lowrey came out as genderqueer.^[3]

Lowrey was homeless as a teenager and no longer has a relationship "with the family that raised [them]."^[4]

Education

Lowrey received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Goddard College.^[5][6]

Career

Dog trainer

Lowrey is an All Star Trainer of the Year-certified trick dog instructor, and American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen and Tricks evaluator.^[5] They "[have] trained and competed in canine sports from dog agility and rally obedience to canine parkour and tricks and has appeared on AKC TV and BBC radio."^[5]

Writer

Lowrey's writing includes characters of varied genders who use a variety of pronouns. They said, "I'm equally committed to normalizing the presence of non-binary characters as I am to non-binary language in literature."^[3]

Their writing has been published through traditional and self-publishing means. Discussing the reason why they sometimes opts for self-publishing, they noted, "Although traditional publishing has made a lot of progress in prioritizing and uplifting #OwnVoices work, many marginalized writers, including LGBTQ writers and writers of color, are still locked out of lucrative book deals. Even if traditional publishers buy books, they may not pour resources into them, leaving the labor of promoting and marketing to the authors."^[7] They continued, "Self-publishing can also mean not having to adjust a story or voice to fit with a publisher’s vision... [it] can be the best way to reach readers who need them most, and to maintain artistic control over their projects."^[7]

Aside from full-length books and anthology contributions, Lowrey has written for HuffPost, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wired, the American Kennel Club,^[8] Narratively, Dogster, Modern Dog, Whole Dog Journal, Bark, Catapult, Catster, Lambda Literary, and others.

Lowrey has taught creative writing at LitReactor and the New York City Center for Fiction,^[5] as well as led the Queer Shelter Project Stories Workshop as part of the arts programming for Queers for Economic Justice.^[9][10] They has also mentored for Association of Writers & Writing Programs twice^[11] and provides writing coaching to private clients."^[5]

Selected awards and honors

Year	Work	Award	Result	Ref.
2017	A Little Queermas Carol	Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror	Finalist	^[12]
2016	Lost Boi	American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Project List	Selection	^[13]
		Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction	Finalist	^[14]
2013	Self	Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award	Recipient	^[1]^[2]
2011	Kicked Out	Lambda Literary Award for Anthology	Finalist	^[15]
		American Library Association Rainbow Project Book List	Top 10	^[16]^[17]
		American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Project List	Top 11	^[18]^[19]^[20]

Publications

Anthology contributions

• Visible: A Femmethology, Volume One, edited by Jennifer Clare Burke (2009)
• Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary, edited by Morty Diamond (2011)
• No Safewords: A Marketplace Fan Anthology, edited by Laura Antoniou (2013)
• The Complete Guide to Writing for Young Adults, edited by Gabrielle Harbowy (2014)
• The Queer South: LGBTQ Writers on the American South, edited by Douglas Ray (2014)
• Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World, edited by Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman (2020)
• Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up with the AIDS Crisis, edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (2021)

Anthologies edited

• Kicked Out (2010)
• Leather Ever After: An Anthology of Kinky Fairy Tales (2013)

Select articles

• "A Guide To Non-binary Pronouns And Why They Matter," in HuffPost (2017)
• "'I Was A Homeless Teen; My Dog, Mercury, Helped Me Through It'," in HuffPost (2017)
• "Lost Cause: On Estrangement and Chosen Family," in Catapult (2018)
• "4 Things Pet Owners Regret Doing When Buying a Home," in Apartment Therapy (2019)
• "Confessions of a Misfit on the Dog Show Circuit," in Narratively (2019)
• "5 New Year’s Resolutions You Can Make for Your Dog," in Apartment Therapy (2020)
• "Before You Adopt: Planning a Lifelong Commitment to Your Pet’s Health," in The New York Times (2020)
• "The Dog Park is Bad, Actually," in The New York Times (2020)
• "Helping Your Dog Survive During a Quarantine," in The New York Times (2020)
• "I Shopped Around for a House That Was Perfect for My Dogs. Yes, Really," in Apartment Therapy (2020)
• "Robot Dogs Can Help Seniors Cope—Especially During Covid," in Wired (2020)
• "The Tech That Can Help Keep Your Dogs Happy and Healthy," in Wired (2020)
• "What We Can Learn From European Dog Culture," in The New York Times (2020)
• "How to Throw Your Dog a Birthday Party, According to a Professional Trainer," in Apartment Therapy (2021)
• "I Turned a Spare Bedroom into a Dog Gymnasium Using Everyday Household Items," in Apartment Therapy (2021)
• "In Praise of Positive Reinforcement for Your Pets," in Wired (2021)

Standalone books

• Roving Pack (2012)
• Lost Boi (2015)
• A Little Queermas Carol (2016)
• Healing/Heeling (2019)
• Tricks in the City: For Daring Dogs and the Humans that Love Them (2019)
• William To The Rescue (2019)
• Chew This Journal: An Activity Book for You and Your Dog (2020)
• Pandemic Pets (2020)
• Dog Training Planner (2021)
• With Me (2021)

Notes

1. This article uses singular they for clarity.

References

1. "25th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced!". Lambda Literary. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
2. Rutherford, Ethan (2013-04-25). "Awards: Lambda Literary Foundation Honors". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
3. Lowrey, Sassafras (2017-11-08). "A Guide To Non-binary Pronouns And Why They Matter". HuffPost. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
4. Lowrey, Sassafras (2021-07-09). "Putting the Self in Self-Publishing". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
5. "Sassafras Lowrey | author of fiction and nonfiction books about dogs and LGBTQ people but now mostly dogs". Retrieved 2022-01-18.
6. Lowrey, Sassafras (2018-03-08). "Queering The MFA: Author Sassafras Lowrey Discusses How to Pick a Program". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
7. Lowrey, Sassafras (2020-10-09). "The Best First Option". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
8. "Sassafras Lowrey, CTDI, Author at American Kennel Club". American Kennel Club. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
9. Dunham, Kelli (2011-10-14). "QUEER TEXT SERIES: THE QUEER SHELTER PROJECT STORIES WORKSHOP AT DIXON PLACE". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
10. Lowrey, Sassafras (2011-08-14). "Shelter Stories at Queers For Economic Justice". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
11. Catherine, Chelsea (2017-12-19). "So, You Want to be a Mentee? A Look at AWP's Mentorship Program". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
12. "29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
13. "Lost boi | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
14. "Lambda Literary Awards Finalists Revealed: Carrie Brownstein, Hasan Namir, 'Fun Home' and Truman Capote Shortlisted". Out Magazine. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
15. Johnson, William (2011-06-27). "23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
16. "2011 rainbow project booklist | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
17. "2011 Rainbow Book List". Rainbow Book List. 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
18. "Kicked Out | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
19. "2011 Over the Rainbow Books". Over the Rainbow Books. 2011-01-09. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
20. Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (2011-01-11). "Over the Rainbow's Top 11 Books". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-01-18.

External links

• Official website