pseudonyms
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #168: Keir Graff
“I’ve always loved collaboration. It was so exciting, because I love the energy. ”
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The Rumpus Interview with Laura Albert
Laura Albert discusses her alter ego JT LeRoy, Jeff Feuerzeig’s documentary Author: The JT LeRoy Story, her complicated relationship with her mother, and life as a hustler.
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Angry Writers
My point is that she’s a bit of a paradox. Over at McSweeney’s, Amy Watkins explains why George Eliot has every right to be really, really upset.
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The Power of Pen Names
At Lit Hub, Tobias Carroll explores the history of authors using pen names, and what happens when these pseudonyms take on their own persona: Under the best conditions, they can add another wrinkle to certain literary works; under the worst,…
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The Writer and Social Media
Alexander Chee writes for LitHub on Elena Ferrante’s pseudonymous, social-media-free existence and the choices other authors have made to dis/engage with social media at points in their careers: Ferrante’s anonymity is something of a feminist project, also. No one is…
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Elena Ferrante Talks Anonymity
The London Review Bookshop has published a letter pseudonymous writer Elena Ferrante wrote to her publisher before the publication of her first novel in 1991 that sort of explains why she wants to remain anonymous: I’ve already done enough for…
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Bending Gender to Make a Sale
The process of selling writing can do funny things to people, like the male authors writing under female pseudonyms. Catherine Nichols went the other way, taking on a male persona to sell her novel: I sent the six queries I…
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By Any Other Name
Sometimes privilege can be confusing. Over at the Guardian, male writers explain why they decided to publish under female pseudonyms: Does it help to be identified as a woman, or to have no gender at all? Someone needs to tell…
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What’s in a Name?
Back in the day, many writers adopted a pen name to “tell the truth without fear.” For some contemporary writers (e.g. J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith or the enigmatic Elena Ferrante), writing under a pseudonym is still liberating. But are pseudonyms going…
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The Light and Shadows of Truth
The true identity of Italian novelist Elena Ferrante invites much speculation, especially in light of her recent nomination for Italy’s most prestigious literary award. But for Ferrante, the decision to write in the shadows may be a liberating one. The…
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An Author By Any Other Name
Authors sometimes choose pseudonyms for marketing purposes or in order to rebrand themselves after some catastrophic career decision. Sometimes, they just want anonymity. In the case of Sarah Hall (the journalist), because another Sarah Hall (the Man Booker-shortlisted author) had…
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Pseudonymously Famous
What happens when a book is shortlisted for the Orwell prize and its author chooses to remain pseudonymous? Possibly, the beginning of a new canon. “Strictly speaking this isn’t anonymity but pseudonymity – and while whole books have been written…