Creating Transgender Art: Reflections of a Trans Woman Writer
Meredith Russo is a novelist and public speaker from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she was born and where she received a degree in creative writing and women’s studies from the University of Tennessee. Her award-winning debut novel, If I Was Your Girl, released in 2016 and won the Stonewall Award, as well as honors for the Walter Dean Myers Diversity Award and the Lambda Literary Award.
Russo is a contributor for the New York Times, Radical Hope, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Meet Cute. She also publishes one short story, one novel chapter, and small multimedia side projects every month on Patreon. Her second novel, Birthday, is forthcoming. She has thousands of followers on social media, where she frequently speaks about politics, gender, writing, and publishing. She is one of only a few prominent transgender women speaking to transgender issues and creating transgender art.
Since Russo’s debut release, she has spoken on panels, in interviews, and as a solo presenter domestically and abroad. She was interviewed at Denmark’s Bogforum and has spoken for Highbridge Green School in the Bronx, Middleton High School in Wisconsin, and the Philadelphia Free Library’s author series. Her panel appearances include the Bay Area Book Festival, the American Librarian Association’s summer convention two years in a row, and the Southern Festival of Books.
Ms. Russo's Athenaeum talk is co-sponsored by the Center for Writing and Public Discourse and the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies, both at CMC.
Photo Credit: Anthony Travis
View Video: YouTube with Meredith Russo