Author Profile: Carmen Maria Machado

Carmen Maria Machado is a queer American author known for her short stories, essays, and various pieces featured in The New Yorker. Machado has received many awards for her LGBTQ Nonfiction. Her criticism has taken contemporary media by storm since it brings attention to critical issues such as domestic abuse in queer relationships.

@carmenmmachado on Instagram

It is important to note that Machado grew up in a very religious household where queer themes would have been ignored if not outrightly banned. She speaks outwardly about the guilt and shame that some may face because of their sexuality, which can be harrowing for many different people. Despite having such an experience, she actively speaks proudly about who she is as a person and encourages others to do the same.

Her Body and Other Parties is a collection of short stories released in 2017. This eclectic group of stories blurs science fiction and horror as it talks about sexuality and relationships through a CSI-style lens. While provocative and even at times disturbing, she reimagines different situations in a way that is both entertaining and bound to give you chills.

Her memoir In the Dream House follows her emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive past relationship while she was studying to achieve her MFA. While the book has themes of domestic abuse, it shows the darker side of seemingly glamourous relationships that from the outside seem to be doting, loving, and beautiful. Since being published in 2019, it has won the 2021 Folio Prize and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction.

This photo is from Phillymag.com

Machado currently lives in Pennsylvania with her wife. You can add her on Instagram. @carmenmmachado

What is your favorite Machado book? What would you recommend? Let us know in the comments.

Article edited by Lindsey Huddleston.