
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan
About
Melissa Febos is the author of five books, including the national bestselling essay collection, GIRLHOOD, which has been translated into ten languages and won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Her craft book, BODY WORK (2022), was also a national bestseller and an LA Times Bestseller. A new memoir, The Dry Season, was published by Alfred. A. Knopf in June 2025.
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The recipient of fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts, the British Library, MacDowell, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Black Mountain Institute, LAMBDA Literary, the American Library in Paris, and others, Melissa's work has appeared in publications including The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays, The Best American Food and Travel Writing, Granta, The Believer, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Elle, and Vogue.
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She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and is the Roy J. Carver Professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program. She lives in Iowa City with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly.
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Events

Self-Paced Virtual Seminar
The Researched Memoir
Storystudio
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​Saturday, October 4
VIRTUAL SEMINAR​
Memoir for the Apocalypse
via Corporeal Writing
12-2pm CT
Friday, October 10
Des Moines, IA
Storyhouse Bookpub, 7pm CT
w/Donika Kelly
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Wednesday, October 16
Stonehill College
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Saturday, October 25, 2025
Wisconsin Book Festival
Madison, WI
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October 29-30, 2025
Franklin and Marshall College​​​​​​​
Lancaster, PA
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Saturday, November 1, 2025
Pride on the Page Festival
Palm Springs, CA
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Saturday, November 8, 2025
Portland Book Festival
Portland, OR
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Thursday, November 13, 2025
NYU MFA Reading Series
w/Donika Kelly
7pm
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Friday, November 14, 2025
Sarah Lawrence College
w/Donika Kelly
5pm
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Contact
For The Dry Season inquiries:
​Jordan Rodman: jrodman [at] penguinrandomhouse.com
Kimberly Burns: kb [at] BroadsidePR.com
Sarah Jean Grimm: SJG [at] BroadsidePR.com
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For Body Work inquiries:
Megan Fishmann: Megan.Fishmann [at] catapult.co
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For Girlhood inquiries:
Emily Fishman: Emily.Fishman [at] Bloomsbury.com
For bookings:
Elaine Trevorrow at EMT Agency: Elaine [at] emtagency.net
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For film/TV:
Anna DeRoy at WME: ADeRoy [at] wmeagency.com
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Literary:
Ethan Bassoff at WME: EBassoff [at] wmeagency.com
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Melissa:
Melissa.Febos [at] gmail.com
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Photo by Laura Bianchi
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