Kristen Arnett

Kristen Arnett (born December 16, 1980) is an American fiction author and essayist. Her debut novel, "Mostly Dead Things", was a "New York Times" bestseller.
Early life and education.
Arnett was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, where she attended Winter Park High School. 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.
Career.
Arnett was a librarian at Rollins College and the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University. She is a columnist for "Literary Hub" and was selected as a Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute for the spring 2020 semester.
Writing.
Her first collection of short fiction, "Felt in the Jaw", was published by Split Lip Press and received the 2017 Coil Book Award. Arnett is a self-described "7-Eleven scholar" and celebrated the debut of "Felt in the Jaw" at a 7-Eleven store in Orlando. 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; it was heralded by literary critic Parul Segal as her "song of the summer" and by "The New Yorker"'s book critic Katy Waldman as one of the best books of 2019. The book features an openly lesbian main character who runs her family's taxidermy shop after her father dies by suicide.
Arnett's forthcoming novel and a collection of short stories will be published by Riverhead Books.
Arnett's stories have appeared in online and print publications including "Guernica" magazine, "The North American Review," "Oprah Magazine", and "Gay Magazine." Her essays have been published in various venues including "The Rumpus," "Electric Literature," and "Orlando Weekly."