If I had one word to describe what I write about, it’s “culture,” which means that I write about everything: from the complicated history of feminism conjured up by Mad Men to Tumblr trends in ideal boyfriends. I’ve profiled some of my favorite writers like Paul Beatty and I’ve spent a day in the mall with Brooke Hogan, reality star and then-aspiring pop star. As a writer and editor, I approach nonfiction with an empathetic eye, and I can find the ideas that we’re all talking about years before everyone else figures it out. I am an expert in film, literature, television, health care in America, New York City Ballet, synchronized swimming, the history of the CIA, Audrey Munson: America’s next top model of 1915, the wild west days of silent film, the beaux arts movement, Sweden, witches and Transcendentalists in Massachusetts, the shifting tides of journalism, and the lives of teenagers and women, from the everyday to the extraordinary. 

My Virginia Quarterly Review feature on synchronized swimming, “Vertical Descent,” was named to Longreads’ Best Sports Writing of 2016, and The Atlantic’s 100 Exceptional Works of Journalism. In 2008, I was included in Best American Music Writing (on Harry Potter-themed rock bands). My work has been in The New York Times Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, BuzzFeed, O Magazine, The L.A. Times, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, The Cut, Hazlitt, Topic Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, The Paris Review Daily, Lenny Letter, and The Awl, among others, in print and online. I’ve written cover features, back of the book features, and I’ve been translated into Italian, courtesy of Black Coffee. I have interviewed a wide range of people, including MacArthur Grant geniuses, icons, celebrities, Oscar-winning actors, world-famous writers, and the only American player on the Boston Bruins. I am the cowriter of The Misshapes (Book one & two), from Polis Books, now available under the pseudonym Alex Flynn.

If you'd like some very occasional updates, I’m on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to my newsletter. I'm available for freelance editing, copywriting, teaching, speaking, and collaborating. The best way to get in touch is email: elisabethdonnelly@gmail.com. For further reading, try these nifty interviews: over at Ravishly for their People We Love feature, and talking with Greenpointers about The Misshapes.