Alison Kinney (she/her) is an author, teacher, and nonfiction writer focusing on cultural history, the arts, ecology, and social justice. 

Her newest book, UNITED STATES OF REJECTION: A STORY OF LOVE, HATE & HOPE, will be published by University of Georgia Press on May 1, 2026 (Crux: the Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction). She’s also the author of AVIDLY READS OPERA, (NYU Press, 2021) and HOOD (Bloomsbury’s “Object Lessons” series, 2016). She’s written online and/or in print for The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, Lapham’s Quarterly, Longreads, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, L.A. Review of Books and Avidly, VAN Magazine, Gay Magazine, The Believer, New Republic, The New Inquiry, Hyperallergic, LitHub, and other publications. Five of her essays have been named Notable Essays in The Best American Essays, from 2016 through 2020. Alison has taught nonfiction writing at The New School and at Catapult and is now Assistant Professor of Writing at Eugene Lang College at The New School and in 2026 is a recipient of the Distinguished University Teaching Award.

Media, Interviews, and Chat (for media about my writing, see individual works’ pages):
• UNITED STATES OF REJECTION: A STORY OF LOVE, HATE, AND HOPE published in May 2026. Ordering info and the book tour schedule are now available, as well as my interview at KQED/NPR “Forum”!
• I was so happy to be invited to do a Lang Craft Talk on “Getting Started.” Zoom video here!
• Check out the new audiobook for HOOD wherever audiobooks are sold!
•  In 2025 I spoke with two journalists at Mother Jones and AP News on masking and ICE.
•  Interview at “Thinking Allowed,” BBC Radio 4 (listen at 17:00)
• Chatting with the podcast The Spouter-Inn; or, A Conversation with Great Books on “Reading During Crisis, Part Two,” at Megafonic
• “Alison Kinney Encourages You to Write at the Grocery Store,” Electric Lit