The Rumpus
  • My Account
  • Essays
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Comics
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • The First Book
    • Reviews
    • Themed Months
    • What to Read When
  • Columns
    • Beyond the Page
    • Close Reads
    • Collaborative Criticism
    • ENOUGH
    • Funny Women
    • Parallel Practice
    • Voices on Addiction
    • We Are More
    • Conversations With Writers Braver Than Me
    • Dear Sugar
    • Roxane Gay
    • All Columns
  • Store
  • Prize
  • Rumpus Membership
  • Merch
  • Letters in the Mail
  • Bonfire Merch
  • My Account
Become a MemberDonate
Become a Member Donate
The Rumpus
The Rumpus The Rumpus
  • My Account
  • Essays
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Comics
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • The First Book
    • Reviews
    • Themed Months
    • What to Read When
  • Columns
    • Beyond the Page
    • Close Reads
    • Collaborative Criticism
    • ENOUGH
    • Funny Women
    • Parallel Practice
    • Voices on Addiction
    • We Are More
    • Conversations With Writers Braver Than Me
    • Dear Sugar
    • Roxane Gay
    • All Columns
  • Store
  • Prize
0

Posts by author

Cris Mazza

3 posts
Cris Mazza has authored seventeen books, most recently Something Wrong With Her, a real-time memoir. Her other fiction titles include Various Men Who Knew Us as Girls (being re-released in 2014), Waterbaby, Trickle-Down Timeline, and Is It Sexual Harassment Yet? A native of Southern California, Mazza grew up in San Diego County. She currently lives 50 miles west of Chicago and is a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her books, interviews and excerpts can be found online at www.cris-mazza.com
Read
  • Rumpus Original

The Sunday Rumpus Essay: A Finished Brain

  • Cris Mazza
  • January 10, 2016
In her twenties, the author was criticized for showing too much emotion. Decades later, having learned to compartmentalize, she's accused of not being able to feel. Is this depression, or contentment?
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original

The Sunday Rumpus Essay: Oneiric (another word I’ve never said)

  • Cris Mazza
  • March 23, 2014
Novelist and memoirist Cris Mazza deconstructs bravery, the function of dreaming--both canine and human--and a lost-love rekindled after 25 years.
Read
Read
  • Rumpus Original

The Sunday Rumpus Essay: Sexlife: One Word or Two?

  • Cris Mazza
  • October 7, 2012
Rumpus Sunday editor, Gina Frangello, asked her friend and former professor, Cris Mazza, what it felt like to write a memoir about her inorgasmia in publishing climate where confessional "tell-alls" usually interrogate--and often celebrate--sexual excess. Here is Cris' emotionally candid response, directed towards Gina...and towards you.
Read
Become a Member!

BECOME A MONTHLY OR ANNUAL RUMPUS MEMBER AND RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, EDITORIAL INSIGHTS, MERCH DISCOUNTS, AND MORE! OUR GOAL IS TO REACH AT LEAST 600 MEMBERS BY THE END OF 2025 TO COVER OUR BASIC OPERATING COSTS.

Join today!
COMMUNITY SUPPORT KEEPS THE MAGAZINE GOING!

Founded in 2009, The Rumpus is one of the longest-running online literary magazines around. We’ve been independent from the start, which means we’re not connected with any academic institution, wealthy benefactor, or part of a larger publishing company. The vast majority of the magazine’s funding comes from reader support.

In other words, we can’t survive without YOU!

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation
Letters in the mail (from authors)

Receive letters from some of our favorite authors written just for Rumpus readers and sent straight into your (snail) mailbox 2x a month!

sign up now!

Keep in Touch

The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us all look deeper.

We believe that literature builds community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you feel more connected, please show your support! Get your Rumpus merch in our online store. Subscribe to receive Letters in the Mail from authors or join us by becoming a monthly or yearly Member.

We support independent bookstores! 10% of sales on any titles purchased through our Bookshop.org page or affiliate links benefits the magazine.

The Rumpus in your Inbox!
The Rumpus
  • Team
  • About & Writers’ Guidelines
  • Advertise
  • TOS and Privacy Policy
© 2025, The Rumpus.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.