Literary Firsts

Alysia Abbott was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury, the only daughter of gay poet and critic, Steve Abbott. After receiving her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from New School University, she worked at the New York Public Library and WNYC Radio. In 2013, she published her first book, Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father, which was named a New York Times “Editors’ Choice,” a “Book of the Week” at Oprah Magazine, and one of The New Yorker’s “Books To Watch Out For” in June 2013. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Slate, Salon, TheAtlantic.com, Psychology Today, Real Simple, and various anthologies.

Alysia is the essayist for the January 20 reading.