Michelle Tea
Encyclopedia
Michelle Tea is an American
author, poet, and literary arts
organizer whose autobiographical works
explore queer
culture, feminism
, race, class
, prostitution
, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts
and currently lives in San Francisco
. Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their views into the queercore
community.
spoken word
tour. She has toured with the Sex Workers' Art Show alongside Ducky DooLittle
and others. She is also a contributor to The Believer
magazine and is the co-writer of the weekly astrology column, Double Team Psychic Dream with astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, in the San Francisco Bay Guardian
newspaper.
at Tulane University
. She did not go to college and, in interviews, has discussed the assumption that she has studied.
came up with the idea to solicit first-person narrative
s for their 2004 anthology
Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache. Described by Publishers Weekly
as a "celebrat[ion of] the avant-garde," the book, which includes work by Dennis Cooper
and Eileen Myles
reached #10 on the Los Angeles Times
non-fiction
paperback bestseller
list in its first week of release. Moreover, the book was a 2004 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Anthologies/Fiction category. Indeed, her books have won a nomination in the competition virtually every year since her Valencia won for best Lesbian Fiction in 2000.
Anthologies
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, poet, and literary arts
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
organizer whose autobiographical works
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
explore queer
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
culture, feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, race, class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...
and currently lives in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their views into the queercore
Queercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
community.
Spoken word and magazine writing
Tea was the co-founder of the Sister SpitSister Spit
Sister Spit is a lesbian-feminist spoken word and performance art collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson, Other members included Jane LeCroy and poet Eileen Myles...
spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
tour. She has toured with the Sex Workers' Art Show alongside Ducky DooLittle
Ducky DooLittle
Ducky DooLittle is a sex educator, performer, writer, former peepshow girl, and sexual assault and violence intervention counselor in the New York City area...
and others. She is also a contributor to The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
magazine and is the co-writer of the weekly astrology column, Double Team Psychic Dream with astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, in the San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
newspaper.
Academics
In February 2008, Michelle was the 23rd Zale Writer-in-Residence at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College InstituteH. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College
H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter....
at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. She did not go to college and, in interviews, has discussed the assumption that she has studied.
Books
While touring together in the year 2000, Tea and writer Clint CatalystClint Catalyst
Clint Catalyst is an American author, actor, spoken word performer, and stylist.Catalyst has covered music, fashion, LGBT issues, and popular culture for magazines including LA Weekly, Frontiers, Out, Surface and Swindle.-Early life:Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Catalyst was raised an only child...
came up with the idea to solicit first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
s for their 2004 anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache. Described by Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
as a "celebrat[ion of] the avant-garde," the book, which includes work by Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist.-Career:Cooper grew up the son of a wealthy businessman in Arcadia, California. His first forays into literature came early, focusing on imitations of Rimbaud, Verlaine, de Sade, and Baudelaire...
and Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles is an American poet who has also worked in fiction, non-fiction, and theater.She won a 2010 Shelley Memorial Award.-Early life and career:...
reached #10 on the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
paperback bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
list in its first week of release. Moreover, the book was a 2004 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Anthologies/Fiction category. Indeed, her books have won a nomination in the competition virtually every year since her Valencia won for best Lesbian Fiction in 2000.
List of works
- Transforming Community (2007) ISBN 0978902343
- Rose of No Man's Land (2006) ISBN 1596921609
- Rent Girl (2004) ISBN 0867196203
- The Beautiful (2003) ISBN 0916397890
- The Chelsea Whistle (2002) ISBN 1580050735
- Valencia (2000) ISBN 1580050352
- The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (1998) ISBN 1570270740
Anthologies
- Baby, Remember My Name: An Anthology of New Queer Girl's Writing (ed.) (2006) ISBN 0786717920
- Without A Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class (ed.) (2004) ISBN 1580051030
- Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person (ed. with Clint CatalystClint CatalystClint Catalyst is an American author, actor, spoken word performer, and stylist.Catalyst has covered music, fashion, LGBT issues, and popular culture for magazines including LA Weekly, Frontiers, Out, Surface and Swindle.-Early life:Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Catalyst was raised an only child...
) (2004) ISBN 1555837530
External links
- Official Website
- Michelle Tea shrine
- Michelle Tea interview on KDVS, May 10 2006
- MP3 of NPR reading of book excerpt Rose of No Man's Land, Dec 20, 2006
- Zale Writer-in-Residence Progam at Newcomb
- Michelle Tea interview on The Lesbian Podcast Feb. 10, 2009
- Sister SPIT
- RADAR Productions
- Michelle Tea interview with Planet Green, July 19 2010
- Michelle Tea reads selection from Rose of No Man's Land on KQED - The Writer's Block