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The Who's Who of Alternative Literature

Up and coming authors of the internet age literary revolution.

Shannon Elizabeth Cawley
Nov 28, 2016
West Virginia University
277
The Who's Who of Alternative Literature

When I began submitting my poems and flash fiction pieces for publication, I knew little to nothing about the "alternative literature" world. I knew of former literary movements, like Realism, Modernism, Romanticism, and Transcendentalism, but what about the current revolution going on now?

Although there isn't a lot of talk about underground writers, something really amazing is happening. A new wave of poets is taking over, and I'm lucky enough to be one of them. Although it is currently a small community, there are a lot of up and coming writers whose work is changing the world as we know it by their large influences of social media and weird, avant-garde humor.

A favorite writer of mine in the alt-lit community, and perhaps one of the most famous, is Mira Gonzalez. Her first collection of poems (or a chapbook, for short) is entitled I will never be beautiful enough for us to be beautiful together, and can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/will-never-beautiful-enough-together/dp/0988839407.

It details the millennial struggles of relationships, online followings and incredibly dark humor. Her collection updates poetry and brings it into the age of the internet, and she does it well. Her Twitter, @miragonz, is even poetic in itself; her tweets include a lot of yeast infections, weed and hilarious social observations.

There are a lot of other authors worth taking a look at, and here are some of them:

Tao Lin (@tao_lin): Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009) https://www.amazon.com/Shoplifting-American-Appare...

Melissa Broder (@sosadtoday/@melissabroder): So Sad Today: Personal Essays (2016) https://www.amazon.com/So-Sad-Today-Personal-Essay...

Kate Monica (@kate_monica_): Nervous Universe (2015) http://www.electriccereal.com/bookstore/nervous-un...

Katie Foster (@__kfoster): Animal Problems (2015) http://www.electriccereal.com/bookstore/animal-pro...

Erin Taylor (@erinisaway/@erinpoehler): OOOO (2015) http://bottlecap-press.myshopify.com/products/oooo

Joseph Parker Okay (@verysoftlake): My phone is about to die and i hope it takes me with it (2016) http://2fast2house.com/store/my-phone

Shy Watson (@sadsects): Away Status (2016) http://bottlecap-press.myshopify.com/products/away...

Sara Sutterlin (@pissbb): Baveuse (2015) http://www.electriccereal.com/bookstore/baveuse-by...

My own chapbook, Depression is a thunderstorm and I am a scared dog, will be coming out on http://maudlinhouse.net the summer of 2017!

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