About

I'm an author, journalist, and editor who has reported from North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean, and West Africa covering culture, politics, history, and identity. I've written thousands of stories, ranging from the fight to preserve world heritage in Palmyra, Syria, to the story of the first American dictionary. My book Americanon is about how seemingly innocuous bestselling books have served quietly as blueprints for "the good American," molding our common language, culture, and customs. It was published by Dutton (Penguin-Random House) June 1, 2021.

My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Paris Review Daily, TIME, The Guardian, New York Magazine's The Cut, The New Republic, Fortune, Village Voice, International Business Times, CNN, the Los Angeles Review of Books, AFP Services, The Believer, Lapham's Quarterly, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, InStyle, DAME, LitHub, Bookforum, Thrillist and Travel + Leisure, among others. I used to be a staff reporter at Time Inc. and International Business Times.

I studied 19th century poetry at Yale (among other fascinating and profoundly impractical things). Since then I've interviewed U.N. diplomats, U.S. senators, former members of the Irish Republican Army, and the errant amateur witch. I covered the 2015 Paris attacks on the ground, meeting musicians, refugees, and other Parisians working toward the city's recovery.

I'm bilingual in French, and you can find me between New York City and Paris.

Anna Sproul-Latimer at Neon represents me.

Portrait by Mariah Tyler.