Alissa Nutting (born 1980 or 1981) is an American author, creative writing professor and television writer. Her writing has appeared in ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

'', ''Fence'', ''BOMB'' and the

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

anthology ''

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me ''My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales'' is an anthology of fantasy stories based on the idea of fairy tales, edited by Kate Bernheimer and Carmen Giménez Smith. The book was published by Penguin Books on September ...

''.

Early career

Nutting attended

Bloomingdale High School Bloomingdale Senior High School is a public high school located in Valrico, Florida. Bloomingdale was established in 1987, three years after Gaither High School, and has its same architectural design. Bloomingdale's first graduating class was in ...

Valrico, Florida Valrico is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. As of 2020 the population was 37,895. History Before the Civil War, the area was known as Long Pond and consisted of several cotton plantations. It wa ...

. She received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and a Master of Fine Arts from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. At the University of Alabama, she served as editor of the ''

Black Warrior Review ''Black Warrior Review (BWR)'' is a non-profit American literary magazine founded in 1974 and based at the University of Alabama. It is the oldest continuously run literary journal by graduate students in the United States. Published in print bi ...

''. Nutting has taught creative writing at

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

, the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

, and

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

Writing

Nutting is author of the short story collection '' Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls''. The book was selected by judge

Ben Marcus Ben Marcus (born October 11, 1967) is an American author and professor at Columbia University. He has written four books of fiction. His stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in publications including ''Harper's'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The ...

as winner of the 6th Starcherone Prize for Innovative Fiction. The book, published by now-defunct Starcherone Books, was a 2010 ForeWord Book of the Year finalist, as well as an Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal finalist for thought-provoking texts. ''

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

'' is a novel that combines erotica, satire and social criticism. It claims to address double standards like gender-based expectations of women, regarding beauty and the great extent of mischief for which women may be forgiven provided they are young and beauteous. The novel centres on a middle-school teacher who has sexual relations with her students. Nutting was inspired by Debra Lafave, a teacher charged with having sex with her under-age students in 2005. Nutting went to high school with Lafave; seeing someone she knew on the news raised her awareness of the issue of female predators. The book was banned in many bookstores for being too explicit. When asked if it was difficult to come in and out of perspective with a deranged character Nutting replied: "It was like going under anesthesia—once I was inside it, I felt like I had to make the most of it because it was so difficult to go in and out. I ended up writing in really marathon sessions, 7-8 hours at a time. After I was done each day I had this hangover feeling—my body felt a grand fatigue even though I’d been seated the whole time. It took me a while to become verbal again after writing." She also explains how her publisher and editors understood that the content needed to be explicit and they didn’t ask her to tone it down. She contributed to ''The &NOW Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing'' (&NOW Books, May 2013). Her writing has appeared in ''The Norton Introduction to Literature'', ''

Fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

'', ''Conduit'', and '' O: The Oprah Magazine''. In April 2021, the television series adaptation of her book '' Made for Love'' premiered on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

; it was cancelled in July 2022 after two seasons following the merger of HBO Max's parent company

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

with

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...

to become

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...

. Nutting would later go on to co-create '' Teenage Euthanasia'' with

Alyson Levy PFFR is an American production company and art collective based in Brooklyn, New York City and consisting of Vernon Chatman, John Lee, Alyson Levy and formerly Jim Tozzi until 2009. The group has been active since 1998. Work The group's port ...

for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

, which premiered on the network on September 6, 2021 and is renewed for a second season.

Personal life

Nutting's first husband was Shawn Nutting, a tattoo artist. In 2013, Nutting gave birth to their daughter Sparrow Jane before the couple split up. Her second marriage was to novelist Dean Bakopoulos. It also ended in divorce. Following this, Nutting came out as gay.

Bibliography

* '' Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls'', Starcherone Books: Buffalo, New York. 2010. * ''

'', Ecco. 2013. * '' Made for Love'', Ecco, 2017

References

External links

* {{Authority control Living people American women short story writers University of Florida alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American women novelists American women editors American editors John Carroll University faculty University of Alabama alumni University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers Novelists from Iowa Grinnell College faculty Novelists from Michigan People from Valrico, Florida American women academics Writers from Tampa, Florida American television show creators American television writers American women television writers