Claire Dederer
American writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Claire Dederer (born 1967[1]) is an American writer who regularly contributes essays, reviews and criticism to publications including The New York Times.
Claire Dederer | |
|---|---|
Claire Dederer, 2025 | |
| Born | January 6, 1967 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Occupations | Writer, essayist, critic |
| Known for | Essays, book reviews, memoirs |
| Notable work | Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma |
| Spouse | Bruce Barcott (married 1997–2023) Peter Ames Carlin (married 2025–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Dave Dederer (brother) |
| Awards | Longform essay of the year (2017)
2024 Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose 2025 Chowdhury Prize in Literature |
| Website | clairedederer |
She has written three books: Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses,[2][3] and Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma.
Life and career
Dederer was raised in Seattle, where she was born in 1967. She was a film critic at the Seattle Weekly before turning to freelance journalism.[4] She has taught writing at her alma mater ('93), the University of Washington.[5] She has two adult children with her ex-husband. She lives on a boat in Seattle.[6]
Dederer has written book reviews and articles for The New York Times[7][8] and other publications.[9][10] Her memoir, Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, was published in 2017.[11]
Her brother, Dave Dederer, is a guitarist and singer, best known as a member of the band The Presidents of the United States of America.[11]
Dederer currently teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing program at Pacific University.[12]
Works
Books
- Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2010. ISBN 9780374236441.
- Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning. Alfred A. Knopf. 2017. ISBN 9781101946503.
- Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma. Hodder & Stoughton. 2023. ISBN 9781399715034.[13][14][15]
Essays
- "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?". The Paris Review. November 20, 2017. (Winner of Longform essay of the year)[16]
Book reviews
| Year | Review article | Work(s) reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | "The virtue of illicit desire". The Culture File. Books. The Atlantic. 321 (2): 42–44. Mar 2018.[17] | Quatro, Jamie (2018). Fire sermon. Grove. |
