Michelle Tea

Michelle Tea
Born	1971 Chelsea, Massachusetts , United States
Occupation	Author and Poet
Genres	Poetry Memoir fiction

Michelle Tea (b. Michelle Tomasik in 1971) is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, prostitution, and other topics.^[1] She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and currently lives in San Francisco.^[2] Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their views into the queercore community.^[1]

Spoken word and magazine writing

Tea was the co-founder of the Sister Spit spoken word tour.^[1] She has toured with the Sex Workers' Art Show^[3] alongside Ducky DooLittle and others. She is also a contributor to The Believer magazine^[4] and is the co-writer of the weekly astrology column, Double Team Psychic Dream with astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, in the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper.^[3]

Academics

In February 2008, Michelle was the 23rd Zale Writer-in-Residence at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute at Tulane University.^[5] She did not go to college and, in interviews, has discussed the assumption that she has studied.^[3]

Books

While touring together in the year 2000, Tea and writer Clint Catalyst came up with the idea to solicit first-person narratives for their 2004 anthology Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache. Described by Publishers Weekly as a "celebrat[ion of] the avant-garde,"^[6] the book, which includes work by Dennis Cooper and Eileen Myles reached #10 on the Los Angeles Times non-fiction paperback bestseller list in its first week of release.^[7] Moreover, the book was a 2004 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Anthologies/Fiction category.^[8] Indeed, her books have won a nomination in the competition virtually every year since her Valencia won for best Lesbian Fiction in 2000.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

List of works

• Transforming Community (2007) ISBN 0978902343
• Rose of No Man's Land (2006) ISBN 1596921609
• Rent Girl (2004)^[15] ISBN 0867196203
• The Beautiful (2003) ISBN 0916397890
• The Chelsea Whistle (2002) ISBN 1580050735
• Valencia (2000)^[16] ISBN 1580050352
• The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (1998) ISBN 1570270740

Anthologies

• Baby, Remember My Name: An Anthology of New Queer Girl's Writing (ed.) (2006)^[2] ISBN 0786717920
• Without A Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class (ed.) (2004) ISBN 1580051030
• Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person (ed. with Clint Catalyst) (2004) ISBN 1555837530

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hellman, David (2004-04-11). "Tea leaves the East for the West to sing the body electric". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/11/RVGR15V5J41.DTL. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
2. ^ ^{a b} [1]
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Interview with Michelle Tea". After Ellen. 05/2004. http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/People/michelletea-interview.html. Retrieved 2010-03-17. 
4. ^ [2]
5. ^ [3]
6. ^ http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA318539.html
7. ^ Los Angeles Times, Mar 14, http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/578375021.html?dids=578375021:578375021&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+14%2C+2004&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=R.11&desc=Paperbacks%3B+BESTSELLERS%3B+LOS+ANGELES+TIMES+LIST+FOR+MARCH+14%2C+2004 
8. ^ [4]
9. ^ [5]
10. ^ [6]
11. ^ [7]
12. ^ [8]
13. ^ [9]
14. ^ [10]
15. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=wOXcGIY6FTMC&dq=Michelle+Tea&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&ei=XCehS6rkDoO0tgf3wMnyBw&sa=
16. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Oli8PYNAjgsC&dq=Michelle+Tea&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&ei=XCehS6rkDoO0tgf3wMnyBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CCUQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false

External links

• Official Website
• Michelle Tea shrine
• Michelle Tea interview on KDVS, May 10 2006
• MP3 of NPR reading of book excerpt Rose of No Man's Land, Dec 20, 2006
• Zale Writer-in-Residence Progam at Newcomb
• Michelle Tea interview on The Lesbian Podcast Feb. 10, 2009
• Sister SPIT
• RADAR Productions
• Michelle Tea interview with Planet Green, July 19 2010
• Michelle Tea reads selection from Rose of No Man's Land on KQED - The Writer's Block

Persondata
Name	Tea, Michelle
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1971
Place of birth	Chelsea, Massachusetts , United States
Date of death
Place of death