Sassafras Lowrey | |
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Occupation |
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Nationality | American |
Education | Goddard College (MFA) |
Notable awards | Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award (2013) |
Website | |
sassafraslowrey |
Sassafras Lowrey (born 1983 or 1984) is an American author and dog trainer. In 2013, the Lambda Literary Foundation awarded them[nb 1] the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award.[1][2]
Lowrey identifies as non-binary and uses ze/hir[nb 1] pronouns.[3]
In the early 2000s, at age 17, Lowrey came out as genderqueer.[3]
Lowrey was homeless as a teenager and no longer has a relationship "with the family that raised [them]."[4]
Lowrey received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Goddard College.[5][6]
Lowrey is an All Star Trainer of the Year-certified trick dog instructor, and American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen and Tricks evaluator.[5] They "[have] trained and competed in canine sports from dog agility and rally obedience to canine parkour and tricks and has appeared on AKC TV and BBC radio."[5]
Lowrey's writing includes characters of varied genders who use a variety of pronouns. They said, "I'm equally committed to normalizing the presence of non-binary characters as I am to non-binary language in literature."[3]
Their writing has been published through traditional and self-publishing means. Discussing the reason why they sometimes opts for self-publishing, they noted, "Although traditional publishing has made a lot of progress in prioritizing and uplifting #OwnVoices work, many marginalized writers, including LGBTQ writers and writers of color, are still locked out of lucrative book deals. Even if traditional publishers buy books, they may not pour resources into them, leaving the labor of promoting and marketing to the authors."[7] They continued, "Self-publishing can also mean not having to adjust a story or voice to fit with a publisher’s vision... [it] can be the best way to reach readers who need them most, and to maintain artistic control over their projects."[7]
Aside from full-length books and anthology contributions, Lowrey has written for HuffPost, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Wired, the American Kennel Club,[8] Narratively, Dogster, Modern Dog, Whole Dog Journal, Bark, Catapult, Catster, Lambda Literary, and others.
Lowrey has taught creative writing at LitReactor and the New York City Center for Fiction,[5] as well as led the Queer Shelter Project Stories Workshop as part of the arts programming for Queers for Economic Justice.[9][10] They has also mentored for Association of Writers & Writing Programs twice[11] and provides writing coaching to private clients."[5]
Year | Work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2017 | A Little Queermas Carol | Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror | Finalist | [12] |
2016 | Lost Boi | American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Project List | Selection | [13] |
Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction | Finalist | [14] | ||
2013 | Self | Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award | Recipient | [1][2] |
2011 | Kicked Out | Lambda Literary Award for Anthology | Finalist | [15] |
American Library Association Rainbow Project Book List | Top 10 | [16][17] | ||
American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Project List | Top 11 | [18][19][20] |