About me
I’m the award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of three books: Monsters, Love & Trouble, and Poser. My books have been published in over fifteen languages. Monsters was a New York Times notable book and was named a best book of the year by the New Yorker, Fresh Air, Esquire, and many others.
I’ve written essays, criticism, and reporting for The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Guardian, Vogue, The Nation, Slate, The Atlantic, New York magazine, and many many other publications, lots of which are now, alas, defunct. My book Monsters grew out of a viral essay I wrote for The Paris Review titled “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”
I’m the recipient of The Chowdhury Prize in Literature, The Los Angeles Times-Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, a Hedgebrook residency, and a Lannan Foundation residency.
I speak regularly on art, art-making, and writing at museums and universities. Over the last couple of years I’ve given talks at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Mississippi Museum of Art, Georgetown University, and the University of Southern California, among many others.
I’m the proud mom of two incredible adult human beings. I live in Seattle with my sweetheart.
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma
A New York Times Notable Book and a national bestseller. Named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Fresh Air, Elle, Esquire, Kirkus, Electric Lit, Apple Books, Audible, The Sunday Times, Vulture, Oprah Daily, San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Publishers Weekly, and Chicago Tribune. Winner of The Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose.
"Excellent ... A work of deep thought and self-scrutiny that honors the impossibility of the book’s mission."
—Melissa Febos, The New Yorker
“Monsters is extraordinary … I am buying this book for everyone I know.”
—Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake and Bel Canto
“Monsters is a dazzling book.”
—Stephanie Zacherek, Time magazine
“Superb … smart, informed, nuanced and very funny.”
—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air
“Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat.”
—Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times
“Instead of rushing to the barricades of ongoing culture wars, Dederer offers – and enacts – a way of thinking that acknowledges the ever growing diversity of intellectual and moral life.”
—Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
“Monsters is an incredible book, the best work of criticism I have read in a very long time.”
—Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, About A Boy, and Dickens and Prince
Events
March 25, 2026
Excited and honored to be delivering the Isherwood-Bachardy Lecture at the Huntington Library.
Rothenberg Hall, Huntington Library, San Marino, California,
Wednesday, March 25, 6–7 p.m.
March 28, 2026
I’ll be at VersoFest at the Westport Library, in conversation with the wonderful Hilarie M. Sheets about Monsters.
Trefz Forum, Westport Library, Westport, Connecticut, Saturday, March 28, 1-2:30 p.m.
April 7, 2026
I’ll be in conversation with the great George Saunders about his new novel Vigil for Seattle Arts & Lectures.
Great Hall, Town Hall, Seattle, Tuesday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.
Contact
My agent is PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit:
My publicist is Jordan Rodman at Knopf:
jrodman@penguinrandomhouse.com
My speaking agent is Leslie Shipman at The Shipman Agency: