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The Dry Season
A Memoir

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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

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Self-Paced Virtual Seminar

The Researched Memoir

Storystudio

Purchase here

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​Saturday, October 4

VIRTUAL SEMINAR​

Memoir for the Apocalypse

via Corporeal Writing

12-2pm CT

Register here

 

Friday, October 10

Des Moines, IA

Storyhouse Bookpub, 7pm CT

w/Donika Kelly

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Wednesday, October 16

Stonehill College

Raymo Reading Series, 6pm ET

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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

RSVP here

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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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Melissa Febos

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