Melissa Broder
{{Short description|American author, essayist and poet}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Melissa Broder
| image = Is Technology Enriching Language - b - Melissa Broder 2017.jpg
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| caption = Broder in New York, NY in 2017
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|8|29}}
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| education = Tufts University (BA)
City College of New York (MFA)
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Author
- essayist
- poet
}}
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| notable_works = So Sad Today, The Pisces, Last Sext, Milk Fed
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| awards = Pushcart Prize
| website = {{URL|melissabroder.com}}
}}
Melissa Broder (born August 29, 1979) is an American author, essayist and poet. Her work includes the novels The Pisces (Penguin Random House 2018),{{cite news|last1=Syme|first1=Rachel|title=In 'The Pisces,' a Woman and a Merman Fall in Love. Aquatic Erotica Ensues.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/books/the-pisces-melissa-broder.html|accessdate=May 14, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=April 26, 2018|archive-date=May 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517223159/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/books/the-pisces-melissa-broder.html/|url-status=live}} Milk Fed ([https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Milk-Fed/Melissa-Broder/9781982142490 Simon and Schuster] 2021),{{Cite news|last=Rosenfeld|first=Lucinda|date=February 2, 2021|title=A Novel of Sex, Faith and Lots of Yogurt|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/books/review/milk-fed-melissa-broder.html|access-date=2021-02-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223033751/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/books/review/milk-fed-melissa-broder.html|url-status=live}} and Death Valley (Scribner, 2023);{{Cite news |last=Watkins |first=Claire Vaye |date=2023-10-01 |title=A Novel of Survival and the Sublime in the Mojave Desert |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/books/review/death-valley-melissa-broder.html |access-date=2024-02-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} the poetry collection Last Sext (Tin House 2016);{{cite news|title=Fiction Book Review: Last Sext by Melissa Broder|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-941040-33-1|accessdate=May 14, 2017|work=Publishers Weekly|date=April 18, 2016|archive-date=August 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802083612/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-941040-33-1|url-status=live}} and the essay collection So Sad Today (Grand Central 2016),{{cite news|last1=Joiner|first1=Whitney|title=Why Is Melissa Broder So Sad Today?|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/books/a34613/melissa-broder-so-sad-today/|accessdate=May 14, 2017|work=Elle|issue=April 2016|date=March 14, 2016|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503031510/http://www.elle.com/culture/books/a34613/melissa-broder-so-sad-today/|url-status=live}} as well as the Twitter feed also titled So Sad Today, on which the book is based.{{cite magazine|last1=Lovitt|first1=Bryn|title=So Sad Today Author Melissa Broder on Twitter Anonymity and Internet Addiction|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/03/so-sad-today-twitter-melissa-broder|accessdate=May 14, 2017|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=March 15, 2016|archive-date=October 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024082039/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/03/so-sad-today-twitter-melissa-broder|url-status=live}} Broder has written for The New York Times, Elle, Vice, Vogue Italia, and New York magazine‘s The Cut.{{Cite web|date=March 9, 2021|title=A Night of "Bad" Sex|url=https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/event/night-bad-sex-roxane-gay-melissa-febos-melissa-broder-tracy-clark-flory-yin-q-and-elissa|website=McNallyJackson.com}}
Early life
Broder grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, with her younger sister Hayley. Her father, Bob, was a tax lawyer and her mother owned a stationery store. She attended the Baldwin School and became interested in poetry early, writing her first collection in third grade.
Broder attended Tufts University, where she edited the literary magazine Queen's Head and Artichoke. She graduated in 2001 with a degree in English and then moved to San Francisco, where she worked odd jobs before relocating to New York City at 25. There she worked as a publicist for Penguin Books and attended night classes at City College of New York, earning an MFA in poetry.
Career
=Poetry=
Broder has published five collections of poetry,{{Cite news|last=Volpe|first=Allie|date=March 14, 2016|title=Melissa Broder happy to bring 'So Sad Today' back home|work=Philadelphia Inquirer|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/literature/20160315_Melissa_Broder_happy_to_bring__So_Sad_Today__back_home.html|url-status=live|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730040617/http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/literature/20160315_Melissa_Broder_happy_to_bring__So_Sad_Today__back_home.html|archive-date=July 30, 2016}} including Superdoom{{Cite web|title=Superdoom: Selected Poems|url=https://tinhouse.com/book/superdoom/|website=TinHouse.com}} (2021). She won a Pushcart Prize for the poem "Forgotten Sound",{{cite journal |oclc=961956305 |title=Pushcart prize XLI, 2017: best of the small presses |last1=Henderson |first1=Bill |last2=Pushcart Press |journal=The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses |date=January 1, 2017 |issn=0149-7863 |language=English}} included in her collection Last Sext.
=Twitter=
Broder began tweeting anonymously from her So Sad Today Twitter account in 2012.{{cite magazine|last1=Mlotek|first1=Haley|title=The Hidden Vulnerabilities of @SoSadToday|url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-hidden-vulnerabilities-of-sosadtoday|accessdate=May 14, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|date=March 24, 2016|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517140238/http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-hidden-vulnerabilities-of-sosadtoday|url-status=live}} She began her So Sad Today column for Vice in December 2014.
She revealed herself as the account's author in a Rolling Stone interview in May 2015.{{cite magazine|last1=Vozick-Levinson|first1=Simon|title=SoSadToday Reveals Her Identity and Existential Beach Read|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/sosadtoday-reveals-herself-and-her-existential-beach-read-20150519|accessdate=May 15, 2017|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 19, 2015|archive-date=May 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516165926/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/sosadtoday-reveals-herself-and-her-existential-beach-read-20150519|url-status=live}}
As of February 2021, the So Sad Today profile had more than 1 million followers.{{Cite web|title=So Sad Today on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/sosadtoday|url-status=live|website=Twitter.com|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515022350/https://twitter.com/sosadtoday}}
=''So Sad Today''=
In 2016, Broder published a collection of personal essays, So Sad Today, based on her Twitter account.{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2016/05/melissa_broder_s_book_so_sad_today_reviewed.html|title=The Ocean of Sadness|last=Coakley|first=Alexandra|date=May 4, 2016|work=Slate|access-date=May 15, 2017|issn=1091-2339|archive-date=April 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429212253/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2016/05/melissa_broder_s_book_so_sad_today_reviewed.html|url-status=live}} The collection includes some essays initially published in Vice under her So Sad Today pen name.
=''The Pisces''=
In 2018 Broder published the novel The Pisces, which garnered praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Washington Post.
= ''Milk Fed'' =
In 2021, Broder published Milk Fed,{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Milk-Fed/Melissa-Broder/9781982142490|title=Milk Fed|date=February 2, 2021|isbn=978-1-9821-4249-0|language=en|access-date=February 26, 2021|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204044416/https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Milk-Fed/Melissa-Broder/9781982142490|url-status=live|last1=Broder |first1=Melissa |publisher=Simon and Schuster }} a critically acclaimed{{Cite web|last=Bolonik|first=Kera|date=January 28, 2021|title=Melissa Broder's 'Milk Fed' is a delicious new novel that ravishes with sex and food - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/28/arts/melissa-broders-milk-fed-is-delicious-new-novel-that-ravishes-with-sex-food/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-26|website=Boston Globe|language=en-US|archive-date=February 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203114727/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/28/arts/melissa-broders-milk-fed-is-delicious-new-novel-that-ravishes-with-sex-food/}} novel that Kirkus called "[b]old, dry, and delightfully dirty."{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/melissa-broder/milk-fed/|title=MILK FED {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en|access-date=February 26, 2021|archive-date=December 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202160813/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/melissa-broder/milk-fed/|url-status=live}}
=Other projects=
Broder is adapting The Pisces for Lionsgate Films.
She also writes the Beauty and Death column for Elle. In 2020 it was announced that a television show based on her novel Milk Fed was being developed. No news has emerged since then.{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Harron|date=March 23, 2021|title=The novel 'Milk Fed' queers—and redeems—the manic pixie dream girl trope|work=Xtra Magazine|url=https://xtramagazine.com/culture/milk-fed-melissa-broder-197082}}
Broder records a podcast titled [https://anchor.fm/eating-alone-in-my-car eating alone in my car] in which she openly discusses her work, daily life, obsessions, and "rants about everything from mortality to Poptarts to depression".{{Cite web|date=October 24, 2019|title=SOSADTODAY'S Melissa Broder performs "Eating Alone in My Car"|url=http://litseen.com/event/sosadtodays-melissa-broder-performs-eating-alone-in-my-car/|url-status=live|website=litseen.com|access-date=February 26, 2021|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127142945/http://litseen.com/event/sosadtodays-melissa-broder-performs-eating-alone-in-my-car/}} She has recorded near-weekly episodes of the podcast since May 2018.
Personal life
Broder is married and lives in Los Angeles.{{cite news|last1=Bromwich|first1=Kathryn|title=So Sad Today's Melissa Broder: 'I just want to rip that chapter out'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/08/so-sad-today-melissa-broder-poet-twitter-book-mental-health|accessdate=May 14, 2017|work=The Guardian|date=May 8, 2016|archive-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417152820/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/08/so-sad-today-melissa-broder-poet-twitter-book-mental-health|url-status=live}} She is a caregiver for her husband, who has a progressive neuroimmune disease that leaves him bedridden for months at a time.{{Cite web|last=Carl|first=Cori|date=August 31, 2018|title=So Sad Today|url=https://thecaregiverspace.org/so-sad-today/|website=The Caregiver Space}} She is bisexual.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=Melissa Broder on Hunger, Humor, and Writing a Novel by Dictation |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a35524517/melissa-broder-milk-fed-interview/ |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=ELLE |language=en-US}}
Bibliography
= Poetry =
- When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother (Ampersand Books, 2010){{Cite news|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/4487/melissa-broder-when-you-say-one-thing-but-mean-your-mother|title=Melissa Broder, When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother|last=Moysaenko|first=Peter|date=March 19, 2010|work=BOMB Magazine|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321115908/http://bombmagazine.org/article/4487/melissa-broder-when-you-say-one-thing-but-mean-your-mother|url-status=live}}
- Meat Heart (Publishing Genius, 2012){{Cite news|url=http://therumpus.net/2012/04/i-have-a-jaw-that-seeks-chunks/|title=I Have a Jaw That Seeks Chunks|last=Zingg|first=Matthew|date=April 14, 2012|work=The Rumpus|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=April 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418222430/http://therumpus.net/2012/04/i-have-a-jaw-that-seeks-chunks/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9831706-6-2|title=Fiction Book Review: Meat Heart by Melissa Broder|date=March 1, 2012|work=Publishers Weekly|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020152236/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9831706-6-2|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/6722/|title=Melissa's Meat Heart|last=Moysaenko|first=Peter|date=July 27, 2012|work=BOMB Magazine|access-date=May 15, 2017}}
- Scarecrone (Publishing Genius, 2014){{Cite news|url=http://flavorwire.com/442242/melissa-broder-is-twitters-most-fascinating-poet|title=Melissa Broder Is Twitter's Most Fascinating Poet|last=Diamond|first=Jason|date=February 25, 2014|work=Flavorwire|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306201700/http://flavorwire.com/442242/melissa-broder-is-twitters-most-fascinating-poet|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9887503-7-1|title=Fiction Book Review: Scarecrone by Melissa Broder|date=February 24, 2014|work=Publishers Weekly|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020152520/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9887503-7-1|url-status=live}}
- Dust Moan (New Hive, 2014) [https://web.archive.org/web/20141012054624/http://newhive.com/melissabroder/enterdustmoan?q=@melissabroder%20%23dustmoan][https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22878441-dust-moan]
- Last Sext (Tin House, 2016){{Cite news|url=http://therumpus.net/2017/04/last-sext-by-melissa-broder/|title=The Teenage Girl in All of Us: Last Sext by Melissa Broder|last=Derby|first=Edward|date=April 21, 2017|work=The Rumpus|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=April 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427135916/http://therumpus.net/2017/04/last-sext-by-melissa-broder/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.bkmag.com/2016/06/13/melissa-broder-last-sext/|title=What Is Melissa Broder's Last Sext?: Talking Poetry, God, and LA with the Darkly Brilliant Writer|last=Delaney|first=Kellylouise|date=June 13, 2016|work=Brooklyn Magazine|access-date=May 15, 2016|archive-date=June 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618231438/https://www.bkmag.com/2016/06/13/melissa-broder-last-sext/|url-status=live}}
- Superdoom: Selected Poems (Tin House, 2021)
= Essay collection =
= Novels =
- The Pisces (Penguin Random House, 2018){{Cite book|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/557707/the-pisces-by-melissa-broder/|title=The Pisces by Melissa Broder {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com|access-date=February 26, 2018|archive-date=February 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035336/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/557707/the-pisces-by-melissa-broder/|url-status=live}}
- Milk Fed (Simon and Schuster, 2021)
- Death Valley (Simon and Schuster, 2023){{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Death-Valley/Melissa-Broder/9781668024843 |title=Death Valley |date=2023-10-24 |isbn=978-1-6680-2484-3 |language=en |last1=Broder |first1=Melissa |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}{{Cite web |date=2024-02-05 |title=Is Anybody Gonna Rescue Me? A Conversation With Melissa Broder |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/is-anybody-gonna-rescue-me-a-conversation-with-melissa-broder/ |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}{{Cite web |date=2023-12-17 |title=Book Review: Death Valley by Melissa Broder |url=https://sarahlawrencephoenix.com/arts-and-culture/2023/12/17/book-review-death-valley-by-melissa-broder |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=The Phoenix |language=en-US}}
Contributor
- The Ampersand Vol. 4 (Ampersand Book, 2009) [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7209848-the-ampersand-volume-4] [https://www.amazon.com/Ampersand/dp/1449522076]
- Stoked V (2013) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131127132625/http://naplitmag.com/stoked/stoked5.pdf][https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18249520-stoked-v]
- Poetry Magazine December 2014 (Poetry Foundation, 2014) [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/issue/71522/december-2014][https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23654178-poetry-magazine-december-2014]
- Keep This Bag Away from Children 2 [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16123325-keep-this-bag-away-from-children-2]
- The Hour of the Star (narrator, 2017) [https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Hour-of-the-Star-Audiobook/B079LZR8VS] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38593520-the-hour-of-the-star]
- Through Clenched Teeth (Triangle House, 2018) [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36584680-through-clenched-teeth]
- Regiment of Women (Modern Library, 2023) [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678120/regiment-of-women-by-clemence-dane/] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56845762-regiment-of-women]
- The Princess of 72nd Street: A Novel (Random House, 2024) [https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780593731819] {{Cite web |date=2024-08-06 |title=Melissa Broder On The Oddball 1979 Novel Having A Summer Renaissance |url=https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/elaine-kraf-the-princess-of-72nd-street-melissa-broder-interview |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=Nylon |language=en}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.melissabroder.com/ Official website]
- [https://twitter.com/sosadtoday @sosadtoday] on Twitter
- [https://twitter.com/melissabroder @melissabroder] on Twitter
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Category:21st-century American poets
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:American women essayists
Category:21st-century American essayists
Category:Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Category:City College of New York alumni
Category:People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Category:Poets from Pennsylvania
Category:Novelists from Pennsylvania
Category:American women novelists