Isle McElroy
@isle_mcelroy
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Author of The Atmospherians & People Collide, named a best book of 2023 by NPR, Vogue, Vulture, and the NYT Critics. they/them. A child of divorce.
Joined October 2012
In every relationship one person sends the memes and the other person has a day job.
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yes nyc is too expensive and the streets are icky with rats but sometimes when you’re leaving the subway your beanie falls out of your bag and everyone shouts YOUR HAT YOUR HAT and one man crouches down to scoop it up to your hands and it occurs to you, Ah, yes, I get it now.
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Being an adult is buying the same 7 groceries every week until you die.
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the only surefire way to get over a crush is spend 4-7 years writing a 200 page novel about them.
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Mom: When am I gonna get a grandchild? . Me: Here’s an ARC of my novel. It fictionalizes our family’s deepest secrets and shames.
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can anyone recommend a good slim novel? Looking for something very good--impossible to put down--and unthinkably slim, like zero to zero pages or so.
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Solidarity with trans employees at Netflix, who are walking out today. Here is their list of demands.
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The central premise of the publishing industry seems to be, What if we take the softest people we can find and make them compete against each other for the smallest prize in the world?.
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Bob Dole, who uses he/him pronouns, died at the age of 98 on Sunday.
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[meeting a new couple] So which one of you sends the memes?.
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A year ago, I earned my PhD in literature & creative writing—1 year early—while also getting divorced and coming out as trans, in the middle of a global pandemic. Last week I published my debut novel. I normally dismiss my accomplishments. But I’m pretty psyched for myself.
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so weird when people read a novel looking for answers. novels are questions. question after question after question.
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one of the best ways to sell books is to be already famous.
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We need a magazine that’s like The New Yorker but hornier.
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For my first piece in the @nytimes (!!!!), I wrote about Petulant Vulnerability and the men who use their feelings as a cudgel.
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Some news: I go by Isle (eye-el) now. Rock and Che Diaz were taken. I know it’ll be an adjustment for my friends and haters alike, but grateful to everybody who’ll be there with me as I continue on with this ~journey~. Love to you all. 💞
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My debut novel, THE ATMOSPHERIANS, releases today! . This book took 5 years to write and the last 2 years were the hardest of my life. I'm glad I made it to this day, and I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported the book. I cannot thank you enough.
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what nobody ever tells you about publishing a book is that people will read it.
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For @ELLEmagazine, I talked to trans people about falling in love. This was one of my all time favorite pieces to write.
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regarding nyc being expensive please pre-order my novel People Collide so I can continue to live here! It’s about a husband and wife who trade bodies! .
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For @TheAtlantic, I wrote about why it’s vital that we write responsibly about eating disorders, an illness that has worsened during the pandemic. This was an extremely difficult piece to write, and I hope you’ll give it a read.
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BIG EXCITING NEWS: I’m writing another novel!!!! PEOPLE COLLIDE coming your way via @HarperCollins in 2023!!! Thrilled to work with @rakeshsatyal again and huge thanks to super agent @mwspence!!! . Last pic are the notebooks where I wrote the draft.
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PEOPLE COLLIDE HAS A COVER! . AND MY NAME IS ON A BOOK THAT I WROTE!!! . and you can pre-order here:
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Clarice Lispector readers guide called What to Expect When You're Lispecting.
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*Carrie Bradshaw as a pirate*: I couldn’t help but plunder.
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For @TheCut, I wrote about the odd feeling of debuting with my deadname and the massive joy of getting to publish PEOPLE COLLIDE with my real name.
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Been really lucky this week. Thanks everyone for reading along.
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most of getting an MFA is sitting in a small room with 6 liberal arts grads muttering "Alice Munro, how does she do it?".
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okay i'm absolutely dead holy moly this paragraph from the @nytimesbooks review of THE ATMOSPHERIANS!!!!.
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As a former New York Times contributor, I signed the open letter critiquing the paper’s coverage of trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people. Here’s a link to the letter, which includes a link to add your support
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successfully defended my dissertation. i am now a doctor of books.
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Nbd just a box of my first novel not freaking out at all nope 😭😭😭
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i tweeted this as a joke but now i have roughly ten million amazing books to buy and read--who's laughing now, isle, who's laughing now?.
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RIP Michel de Montaigne, you would've loved learning that Essay comes from the French word essayer meaning to try.
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doing interviews is sort of like taking a test on your own book.
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Just got a story accepted by Guernica after years of submitting. Watch this space etc etc etc.
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*Me after killing my father and marrying my mother* damn the Oedipal just hit.
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you’re not supposed to *like* characters in fiction, you’re supposed to think they’re hot.
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6 months ago I knew nothing about pitching and now I’ve had pieces in gq, Esquire, the cut, harpers bazaar, Elle, BuzzFeed, vulture, and more. Just goes to show: when you put your mind to something you can end up, like me, very tired and frayed.
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author photo outtakes in which i look too happy to be viewed as a Serious Literary Writer
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reality tv show called ACADEMIA where thousands of overqualified candidates apply for a job none of them want but would probably kill for.
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a girl who rejected me in high school just left me a middling goodreads review.
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Coroner performing autopsy on Walt Whitman: It’s the damnedest thing. Coroner’s Assistant: What is it, Sir?. Coroner: There’s not a single multitude in here.
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THE ATMOSPHERIANS coming at you in paperback on February 18, 2022. Includes “This is exceptional writing” from the @nytimesbooks.
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Might start an outdoor, socially distant reading series in Brooklyn called Debuts and Redos, highlighting debut authors and authors who couldn't hold in-person readings because of COVID precautions. Would people be into this?.
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PEOPLE COLLIDE is out today!!! Here’s a photo of the novel resting on the notebooks where I wrote the first draft. Also a pic of first draft page 1 and final page 1. Thank you to everyone who’s helped bring this book into the world!!!.
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Excited to share the cover for THE ATMOSPHERIANS!! Out 5.18.21 from @AtriaBooks. Thank you Laywan Kwan for the amazing design. And thanks to Rakesh Satyal, Daniella Wexler, Loan Le, super agent Marya Spence, & everyone at @JanklowNesbit!!!
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My first published poem, “Punchline,” is now live at @astra_mag. Nervous to see it go up, and I appreciate anyone who gives it a read.
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What is the most VHS movie of all time? Is it Sister Act? Is it Hook?.
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where does one buy a nytimes sunday paper in brooklyn? asking for me, whose book is reviewed in the sunday times today.
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My very offline gf made a meme and nothing could be more perfect
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You expect me to finish my novel? The thing that literally killed Jack Torrence and put his entire family in danger?.
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You expect me to celebrate Pride? The thing that nearly killed Elizabeth's Bennet's feelings for Darcy?.
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It’s officially official: PEOPLE COLLIDE coming out from @HarperViaBooks!!! And we got the @PublishersWkly treatment!!!!
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went for a little walk without my phone and came back to find @washingtonpost called People Collide “ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST NOVELS”!!!!!.
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I wrote a trans self-acceptance essay about the necessity and inadequacy of trans self-acceptance essays for @lithub. It's a deeply personal essay and I hope you'll give it a read.
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Twitter! Before we all bail, I need one last recommendation. So there’s dude who I’m pretty sure insulted me, and I’m thinking of walling him up in my basement as revenge, but I need a good wine to entice him into the cellar. What should I offer?.
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I’ll never forget the time Joan Didion pulled me aside at the gala and said, Alex, you’re the only one who truly has any talent, don’t ever tell anyone I told you that.
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