Roxane Gay
Author and cultural critic (Bad Feminist; Hunger) who engages actively on literary culture, events (e.g., AWP), and criticism.
Agents Value Real Audience, Not Social Media Followers
Having a following is one aspect of getting an agent, esp. if you write nonfiction but it is by no means the most important thing. They are looking for an indication that you have an audience who might want to buy your book. Now, the odd thing is that there is little correlation between social media followers and book sales. But, moving on, just answer honestly.
Black Lesbian Representation Empowers Identity and Love
At the LA Festival of Books today I had such a lovely moment. During the panel Q&A, a young person asked me about World of Wakanda and shared that when they read the book, they were struggling with identity and...
Reading My Own Book in a Club Feels Magical
I wrote about the pleasures of book clubs, especially when I am invited to a club reading one of my books: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2026-04-09/roxane-gay-book-club-love-essay
Real Artemis Feels Cramped Vs. Hollywood's Spacious Rockets
In space movies, the shuttles or rockets are always kind of modern and spacious. Meanwhile Artemis (which is amazing yay science etc) looks like a cramped radio shack.
April Book Club Tackles Black Single Mother Narrative
It's April and this month, my book club is reading Black. Single. Mother. by @jamilahlemieux. You can follow along with us and here's the introductory post: https://audacity.substack.com/p/introducing-black-single-mother
Trying to Stay Open, but Husbands Still Embarrass
Whew. I don’t listen to podcasts much but I just voluntarily listened to one for the first time ever, the episode of ICYMI about Lindy West’s new book. I was trying so hard to be open but husbands just be out...
Readers Judge Books by Author, Not Content
No. I am not saying people can’t like books. Not all books are good. Taste is subjective. I am saying that people here talk about which books they support or will stop supporting based on sentiments about the author without,...
Social Buzz Rarely Drives Book Sales; Luck and Reviews Matter
Discourse is not correlated to book sales, most of the time. It is very easy to post on social media but that doesn’t really translate into sales. Word of mouth, book club adoption, reviews in major papers (sob),...
My Dog Essay Joins NYT Bestseller Anthology
I have an essay called "Max" about my dog Max in this anthology called Best Dog in the World, edited by Alice Hoffman. It was a fun little project, and now it is a NYT bestseller. Anyway, it's a lovely...
The Rumpus to Host Party at AWP 2026
Here is what The Rumpus will be up to at AWP this year https://therumpus.net/2026/02/27/the-rumpus-at-awp-2026/ and we are having a party. Hope to see you there.