Meredith Russo

MEREDITH RUSSO lives in Brooklyn with her cat Shadow and probably more books than is responsible for a New York apartment. When she isn't upsetting Yankees by smiling and making eye contact on the 3 train she spends her time lifting weights, playing fighting games, blowing up the mic at karaoke, glancing anxiously at her TBR pile, and, of course, working on her next book.Meredith's debut novel, If I Was Your Girl, released in 2016 to rave reviews and multiple awards. Her second novel, Birthday, came out in 2019. Both novels explore themes of gender identity, sexuality, poverty, trauma, and mental illness in Southern Appalachia, though they're lighter and way less bummer-y than that list might imply. Her essays and shorter fiction can be found in The New York Times, Elle, Meet Cute, (Don't) Call Me Crazy, Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Resistance in Dangerous Times, and Out Now: Queer We Go Again.