Kristen Arnett
{{short description|American fiction author and essayist (born 1980)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kristen Arnett
| image = Kristen Arnett 2019 Texas Book Festival.jpg
| caption = Arnett at the 2019 Texas Book Festival
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|12|16}}
| birth_place = Orlando, Florida, U.S.
| alma_mater = Rollins College (BA)
Florida State University (MS)
| occupation = Librarian, writer
}}
Kristen Arnett (born December 16, 1980){{Cite web|title='Mostly Dead Things' Author Kristen Arnett On The Weird, Wonderful Magic Of Central Florida|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/mostly-dead-things-author-kristen-arnett-on-the-weird-wonderful-magic-of-central-florida-18136312|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Bustle|date=24 June 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=it's still my birthday, show me your dogs|url=https://twitter.com/kristen_arnett/status/1206764525816569856|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Twitter|language=en}} is an American fiction author and essayist. Her debut novel, Mostly Dead Things, was a New York Times bestseller.{{Cite web|title=About - kristen arnett|url=http://kristenarnett.virb.com/about|website=kristenarnett.virb.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09|archive-date=2020-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526041756/http://kristenarnett.virb.com/about|url-status=dead}}
Early life and education
Arnett was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, where she attended Winter Park High School.{{Cite web|date=2019-06-17|title=Kristen Arnett on Florida, Queerness, and 7-Eleven|url=https://www.papermag.com/kristen-arnett-mostly-dead-things-interview-2638895516.html|access-date=2020-07-15|website=PAPER|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Kristen Arnett|url=http://www.full-stop.net/2017/12/15/interviews/bud-smith/kristen-arnett/|access-date=2020-07-15|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Kristen Arnett on How She Got Her Start as a Librarian|url=https://lithub.com/kristen-arnett-on-how-she-got-her-start-as-a-librarian/|date=2019-06-21|website=Literary Hub|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-09}} She graduated from Rollins College with a bachelor's degree in English and received her master's degree in library and information science from Florida State University. Arnett was a fellow in the Lambda Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices in 2013.{{Cite web|title=Lambda's Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices: The 2013 Fellows Reflect {{!}} Lambda Literary|date=12 September 2013 |url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2013/09/lambdas-writers-retreat-for-emerging-lgbt-voices-the-2013-fellows-reflect/|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09}}
Career
Arnett was a librarian at Rollins College and the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University.{{Cite web|title=Welcome, Kristen Arnett!|url=https://barrylawlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/welcome-kristen-arnett/|last=Rosen|first=Louis|date=June 2, 2016|website=Barry Law Library|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09}} She is a columnist for Literary Hub and was selected as a Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute for the spring 2020 semester.{{Cite web|title=Kristen Arnett|url=https://blackmountaininstitute.org/fellow/kristen-arnett/|website=Black Mountain Institute|date=4 December 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-09}}{{Cite news|title=kristen arnett {{!}} Literary Hub| newspaper=Literary Hub |url=https://lithub.com/?s=kristen+arnett|access-date=2020-05-09|language=en-US}}
= Writing =
Her first collection of short fiction, Felt in the Jaw, was published by Split Lip Press and received the 2017 Coil Book Award.{{Cite web|title=2017 Coil Book Award: Kristen N. Arnett's 'Felt in the Jaw'|url=https://medium.com/the-coil/2017-coil-book-award-kristen-n-arnett-felt-in-the-jaw-5be7d76173f|last=Press|first=Alternating Current|date=December 9, 2017|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09}} Arnett is a self-described "7-Eleven scholar"{{cite news |last1=Boedeker |first1=Hal |title=Taxidermy enlivens Florida-rich 'Mostly Dead Things' |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv-guy/os-et-taxidermy-enlivens-florida-rich-mostly-dead-things-20190529-aicxy7scvfejdodezv33kjjf2u-story.html |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=May 29, 2019 |quote=I read by the Slurpee machine. I signed books next to the hot dog roller.}} and celebrated the debut of Felt in the Jaw at a 7-Eleven store in Orlando.{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=John|date=August 28, 2017|title=Stories and Slurpees|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/books/review/kristen-arnett-7-eleven-book-party.html|access-date=2020-07-01|issn=0362-4331}} The short story collection focuses on living as a lesbian in Florida.
Arnett's debut novel, Mostly Dead Things, which was published by Tin House in June 2019, was a New York Times bestseller and received critical acclaim.{{Cite news|last=Cline|first=Jake|title=Review {{!}} 'Mostly Dead Things' captures the humor and strangeness of Florida without the easy stereotypes|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/mostly-dead-things-captures-the-humor-and-strangeness-of-florida-without-the-easy-stereotypes/2019/06/05/c0525c72-878d-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html|access-date=2020-06-21|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Faires|first=Rosalind|title=Book Review: Mostly Dead Things|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2019-10-23/book-review-mostly-dead-things/|access-date=2020-06-21|date= October 23, 2019|work=The Austin Chronicle|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Macabre And Irreverent, 'Mostly Dead Things' Is A Satisfying Journey|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/06/08/730592827/macabre-and-irreverent-mostly-dead-things-is-a-satisfying-journey|access-date=2020-06-21|website=NPR|date=8 June 2019 |language=en|last1=Masad |first1=Ilana }}{{Cite web |date=2019-12-24 |title=The 15 Best Books of 2019 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/12/15-best-books-of-2019/603880/ |access-date=2020-06-21 |website=The Atlantic}}{{Cite web|first=David|last=Canfield|title='Mostly Dead Things' is very Florida, very gay, and very good: EW review|url=https://ew.com/book-reviews/2019/06/11/mostly-dead-things-kristen-arnett/|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=EW.com|language=EN}} The novel was heralded by literary critic Parul Sehgal as her "song of the summer"{{Cite news|last=Sehgal|first=Parul|date=2019-05-28|title='Mostly Dead Things,' a Story of Taxidermy, Love and Grief, With Echoes of Past Literary Heroines|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/books/review-mostly-dead-things-kristen-arnett.html|access-date=2020-05-09|issn=0362-4331}} and by The New Yorker
Arnett's novel, With Teeth, was published by Penguin Random House in 2022.{{Cite web |title=With Teeth by Kristen Arnett: 9780593191521 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646150/with-teeth-by-kristen-arnett/ |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
Arnett's stories have appeared in online and print publications including Guernica magazine,{{Cite news|last=Arnett|first=Kristen N.|date=July 30, 2018|title=The Graveyard Game|url=https://www.guernicamag.com/the-graveyard-game/|access-date=2020-05-09|website=Guernica|language=en-US}} The North American Review,{{Cite web|title=Vol. 301, No. 1, WINTER 2016 of The North American Review on JSTOR|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26781811|access-date=2020-05-09|website=www.jstor.org|language=en}} Oprah Magazine, and Gay Magazine.{{Cite web|last=Arnett|first=Kristen|date=2019-07-02|title=Divide and Conquer|url=https://gay.medium.com/divide-and-conquer-568d8f9ed6b5|access-date=2020-05-09|website=Medium|language=en}} Her essays have been published in various venues including The Rumpus,{{Cite web|title=Hand-Operated Shearing Instruments|url=https://therumpus.net/2013/10/hand-operated-shearing-instruments/|date=October 29, 2013|website=The Rumpus|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09}} Electric Literature,{{Cite web|title=The Queer Erotics of Handholding in Literature|url=https://electricliterature.com/the-queer-erotics-of-handholding-in-literature/|date=2017-04-25|website=Electric Literature|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-09}} and Orlando Weekly.{{Cite web|title=Oh thank heaven, today is 7-Eleven Day|url=https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/07/10/oh-thank-heaven-wednesday-is-7-eleven-day|last=Arnett|first=Kristen|website=Orlando Weekly|language=en|access-date=2020-05-09|archive-date=2021-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227104943/https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/07/10/oh-thank-heaven-wednesday-is-7-eleven-day|url-status=dead}}
Arnett's third novel, Stop Me If You've Heard This One, was published in March 2025 by Riverhead Books.{{cite web |last=Thorpe |first=Rufi |date=2025-03-17 |title=Book Review: ‘Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One,’ by Kristen Arnett |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/books/review/stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-kristen-arnett.html |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |last=Worley |first=Sam |date=2025-03-18 |title=The Gay Dirtbag Lives On |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/review-kristen-arnett-book-stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one.html |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Vulture |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Speakman |first=Kimberlee |last2=Schumer |first2=Lizz |date=August 15, 2024 |title=Misfits, Mimes and Magicians: Kristen Arnett's New Novel Has It All — and We Have the Cover! (Exclusive) |url=https://people.com/author-kristen-arnett-debuts-new-novel-stop-me-if-you-ve-heard-this-one-8695413 |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=People.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett: 9780593719770 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753099/stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-by-kristen-arnett/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
"Marvin" tweet
Arnett's Twitter feed became a case study in how corporations use Twitter when in 2018 she tweeted, "This morning at 7-eleven I saw a lizard next to the coffee maker and the cashier said 'no worries that's just Marvin, he likes the smell.'" 7-Eleven's official Twitter account replied to the tweet, which ultimately garnered over 350,000 likes,{{Cite web |title=Marvin |url=https://twitter.com/kristen_arnett/status/980777246234423296?s=46 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}} asking "Oh no! Can you DM us with the store location you visited so we can check in on Marvin? Thank you!" to which Arnett replied "no way I'm not gonna narc on my buddy."{{Cite web |date=2018-04-04 |title=Woman refuses to snitch on her new buddy: Marvin the 7-Eleven lizard |url=https://mashable.com/article/marvine-7-eleven-lizard |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Mashable |language=en}} Screengrabs of the exchange have been widely reposted as a classic piece of digital culture and have appeared in the so-called Internet Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Internet Hall of Fame |url=https://twitter.com/interneth0f/status/1668802872383791107?s=46 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2018-04-05 |title=People rally behind coffee-loving lizard who is a regular in a Florida convenience shop |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/people-rally-behind-coffee-loving-lizard-who-is-a-regular-in-a-florida-convenience-shop/36777319.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Independent.ie |language=en}} When a {{Cvt|6|ft}} monitor lizard visited a convenience store in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand in 2021 and started climbing up the shelves heading toward the ceiling, the video was posted to Twitter and a user helpfully replied, "That's just Marvin, he likes the smell."{{Cite web |last=West |first=Phil |date=2021-04-09 |title=Giant Lizard Invades 7-Eleven And Becomes Instant Internet Sensation |url=https://god.dailydot.com/giant-lizard-invades-7-eleven/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=God |language=en-US}}
Personal life
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official site|http://kristenarnett.virb.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnett, Kristen}}
Category:Writers from Orlando, Florida
Category:Rollins College alumni
Category:Florida State University alumni
Category:Librarians from Florida
Category:American women librarians
Category:American LGBTQ writers
Category:LGBTQ people from Florida