The annual Alumni Summer Reading List brings together the most anticipated exemplary books released by alumni within the last year. The selection committee is proud to announce the 2021 collection, which features powerful voices amplifying the important
stories and ideas of our time in a range of genres.
Discover alumni writers — from literary icons to fresh talent — who are transforming the world with their groundbreaking work, including Girlhood by Melissa Febos ’03, which the New York Times places among the ranks of history's feminist
masterpieces;
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Harris ’16, a thrilling debut novel that explores privilege and racism in the workplace; Holding Back the Riverby Tyler Kelley ’07, which offers an urgent look at policies
surrounding America’s rivers; Mission Economy by world-renowned economist Mariana Mazzucato '95 and ’99, which proposes a bold plan for rethinking capitalism; July by Kathleen Ossip ’98, a collection of politically informed poems
that take a hard look at the United States; and many more.
Tune in to live book talks with these alumni authors taking place on Instagram.
See the lineup and keep the conversation going by joining the Alumni Book Club.
Post photos of your summer reads on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #NewSchoolAlumni.
Fiction
No Heaven for Good Boys
Keisha Bush, MFA Creative Writing ’15
The Photographer
Mary Dixie Carter, MFA Creative Writing ’17
Cucina Romana: Another Italian Adventure
Andrew Cotto, MFA Creative Writing ’08
Hysteria
Jessica Gross, MFA Creative Writing ’18
The Other Black Girl
Zakiya Dalila Harris, MFA Creative Writing ’16
The Gordian Knot Trilogy
Jonathan Emmanuel Hernandez, MFA Creative Writing ’19
Forget Me Not
Alexandra Oliva, MFA Creative Writing ’11
We Are Watching Eliza Bright
A.E. Osworth, MFA Creative Writing ’16
A Room in Dodge City: Vol. 2
David Rice, MFA Creative Writing ’19
Silverfish
Rone Shavers, MFA Creative Writing ’01
Confessions on the 7:45
Lisa Unger, BA Liberal Arts ’92
Memoir
Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind
Barbara Becker, MA Media Studies ’00
The Spring
Annie Connole, BA Liberal Arts ’07
Negative Space
Lilly Dancyger, BA Literary Studies ’11
Girlhood
Melissa Febos, BA Liberal Arts ’03
Nonfiction
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains
Kerri Arsenault, MFA Creative Writing ’15
Kill It With Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones)
Marianne Bellotti, MS Nonprofit Management ’10
Twilight Man: Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire
Liz Brown, MFA Creative Writing ’01
How to Communicate Effectively with Anyone, Anywhere
Daniel Bullock, MA TESOL ’18
Rodrigo Sánchez, MFA Design and Technology
’04
What Happened to Paula: On the Death of an American Girl
Katherine Dykstra, MFA Creative Writing ’05
Strive from Within: The Jazzmeia Horn Approach
Jazzmeia Horn, BFA Jazz and Contemporary Music ’14
Holding Back the River: The Struggle Against Nature on America's Waterways
Tyler Kelley, BA Liberal Arts: Literature ’07
The World We Need: Stories and Lessons from America’s Unsung Environmental Movement
Audrea
Lim, MA Philosophy ’08
An Ordinary Age: Finding Your Way in a World That Expects Exceptional
Rainesford Alexandra Stauffer, BA Liberal Arts ’17
Social Sciences
Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy
Ray Acheson, MA Politics ’14
Everyday Violence against Black and Latinx LGBT Communities
Siobhan Brooks, MA Sociology ’01; PhD Sociology ’08
Afro-Latinos in the U.S. Economy
Michelle Holder, MA Economics ’07; PhD Economics ’13
In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary Mexico
Gema Kloppe-Santamaria, MA Sociology ’10; PhD Sociology and Historical Studies ’18
PEOPLE|NON|SPACES: Humanity in Homogeneous Zones
Bridget Leslie, MFA Fine Arts ’17
Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism
Mariana Mazzucato, MA Economics ’95; PhD Economics
’99
Care Ethics and the Refugee Crisis: Emotions, Contestation, and Agency
Marcia Morgan, MA Philosophy ’98; PhD Philosophy ’03
Bargaining with the Machine: Technology, Surveillance, and the Social Contract
Robert
M. Pallitto, PhD Politics ’02
Worldly Shame: Ethos in Action
Manu Samnotra, MA Politics ’07
Poetry
Ghost Hour
Laura Cronk, MFA Creative Writing ’05
July
Kathleen Ossip, MFA Creative Writing ’98
Ghost Face
Greg Santos, MFA Creative Writing ’09
Some of the Times
Gina Myers, MFA Creative Writing ’05
Art & Design
Out of the Shadows: The Henson Festivals and Their Impact on Contemporary Puppet Theater
Leslee Asch,
MM Nonprofit Management ’05
Fashion Thinking: Creative Approaches to the Design Process
Fiona Dieffenbacher, AAS Fashion
Design ’90; BFA Fashion Design ’93; MA Fashion Studies ’19
The Garden
Erik Madigan Heck, MFA Photography ’10
We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World
Jasmin Hernandez, BBA Strategic
Design and Management ’02
Yes No Thank You Goodbye
Sam Klegerman, BFA Photography ’20
Open Source Fashion Cookbook
Angela Luna, BFA Fashion Design ’16
Still Bombay
Mayur Tekchandaney, BFA Communication Design ’00
Visual Discoveries: A Collection of Sections
Allen Yee, MFA Design and Technology ’04
Literature for Children and Young Adults
Kitty Sweet Tooth
Abigail Denson, BA Liberal Arts and BFA Illustration ’99
Home Is Not a Country
Safia Elhillo, MFA Creative Writing '15
K-Pop Confidential
Stephan Lee, MFA Creative Writing ’18
Ever Cursed
Corey Ann Haydu, MFA Creative Writing ’12
Secret Spy Society: Case of the Missing Cheetah
Veronica Mang, BFA Illustration
’19
Do you have an upcoming book that you would like to have considered for the 2022 Alumni Summer Reading List? Submit your book here.