Lydia Kiesling is a novelist and culture writer. Her first novel, The Golden State, was a 2018 National Book Foundation “5 under 35” honoree and a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her second novel, Mobility, a national bestseller, was named a best book of 2023 by Vulture, Time, and NPR, among others. It was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Her essays and nonfiction have been published in outlets including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker online, and The Cut. Contact her at lydiakiesling@gmail.com.
Some Recent Work
Oregon’s Drug Recriminalization - The Nation
On Family - The Drift
America Hates Kids - Business Insider
On Summer Camp - Bloomberg BusinessWeek
On “Yellowjackets” - The New York Times Magazine
The Parent Test - The Atlantic
What is it Now? - The Cut
Parenting and Therapy - Romper
Billionaire Books - The New York Times Magazine
Hollywood Loves a Monstrous Mommy. Can it Do Her Justice? - The New York Times Magazine
You’ve Got the Night Shift. Who’s Got Your Kids? - Bon Appetit
On Parental Leave - The Baffler
Preschool for All - The Cut
The New James Bond is Haunted with Daddy Issues - Romper
The Future of My Garbage Self - The Cut
Letter of Recommendation: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen… - The New York Times Magazine
Being Reckless: An Interview with Karl Ove Knausgaard - The Paris Review daily
Gaslit by Amy Coney Barrett - Harper’s Bazaar
The Aspirational Android Parenting of ‘Raised by Wolves’ - The New Yorker
Why I Want to Write - The Cut
The Whale in the Room - The Cut
On Marriage - The Cut
San Francisco Housing - Zyzzyva
Child Care during World War II - The New York Times
A Mother’s Clock - The New York Times
A Year in Reading 2018 - The Millions
Letter of Recommendation: YouTube Travel - The New York Times Magazine
On Binge-Watching - Real Life
Becoming a Woman Who Yells at Her Children - The Cut
On David Graeber's "Bullshit Jobs" - Slate
On Pregnancy - The Cut (featured in the New York Times Magazine “New Sentences” column)
Workplace Fiction by Women - The New Yorker Page-Turner
Review: Submission by Michel Houellebecq - Slate
About a Dress - The Cut
Image credit: Erica J. Mitchell