Jonathan Alexander

Jonathan Alexander is the author, co-author, or co-editor of 22 books, including the Creep trilogy, which consists of Creep: A Life, A Theory, An Apology (finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, 2017); Bullied: The Story of an Abuse (2021); and Dear Queer Self: An Experiment in Memoir (2022). Other recent books include the memoir Stroke Book: The Diary of a Blindspot (2021) and the scholarly work Writing and Desire: Queer Ways of Composing (2023). Alexander is Chancellor’s Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. His latest book, Damage: Meditations on Queer Visual Art, is forthcoming from Fordham University Press.

Articles

John Green’s Anxieties: On “Turtles All the Way Down”
Jonathan Alexander on John Green's new novel.
Jonathan AlexanderDec 28, 2017
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Other People’s Children, Part 3, or Ghost Touches: Myriam Gurba’s “Mean” and Sexual Violence
Jonathan Alexander on the hauntology of sexual violence in Myriam Gurba’s difficult but impactful new memoir/true crime tale, “Mean.”
Jonathan AlexanderDec 11, 2017
- Gender & Sexuality
- Memoir & Essay
Other People’s Children, Part 2: Stories in the Aftermath, or “The Hate U Give”
Angie Thomas’s debut novel tackles the traumas of race in contemporary America.
Jonathan AlexanderDec 8, 2017
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Other People’s Children: “Younger,” “Cucumber,” and an Open Love Letter to Nico Tortorella
Jonathan Alexander on the frisson and fantasy of love and sex across the generational divide in the TV shows “Younger” and “Cucumber.”
Jonathan AlexanderDec 1, 2017
- Gender & Sexuality
- Television
Strange Bedfellows: Queers, Conservatives, Catholics
Jonathan Alexander ponders homophobia in Islam and Christianity.
Jonathan AlexanderAug 28, 2017
Damaging Words: On “Thirteen Reasons Why”
Jonathan Alexander reviews the new Netflix series “Thirteen Reasons Why.”
Jonathan AlexanderMay 24, 2017
- Television
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Everyone Grows Up: Jonathan Alexander and Brian Selznick in Conversation
Jonathan Alexander interview children’s author Brian Selznick.
Jonathan AlexanderApr 19, 2017
- Gender & Sexuality
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
What Feeds the Imagination: Jonathan Alexander Interviews Kenneth Kidd
Jonathan Alexander interviews scholar of YA literature, Kenneth Kidd.
Jonathan AlexanderApr 6, 2017
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
On Alter Egos and Facing Monsters: Jonathan Alexander Interviews Francesca Lia Block
An interview with author Francesca Lia Block.
Jonathan AlexanderSep 26, 2016
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
The Case for Animal Welfare in YA
Jonathan AlexanderJan 12, 2016
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Aftermaths of an Epidemic: On Dale Peck’s “Visions and Revisions”
Peck’s larger claim is that despite AIDS, and maybe even because of AIDS, gay men must make sure not to lose joy in sex.
Jonathan AlexanderSep 18, 2015
- Memoir & Essay
Failures of Nerve: “While We’re Young” and “The Overnight”
Marriage isn't just for two people anymore: on "While We're Young" and "The Overnight."
Jonathan AlexanderSep 1, 2015
- Film
Unnatural Disasters, or Queering Katrina
Photography by Jon Hughes / Photopresse
Jonathan AlexanderAug 27, 2015
- Memoir & Essay
Late L’Engle: The Wrinkles of Time, Redeemed
Madeleine L'Engle is pegged as a writer for young people, but that isn't all.
Jonathan AlexanderAug 16, 2015
- Fiction
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
The Literacy Games: Summer Lessons About Media from YA Fiction
Dystopic stories are attractive. They appeal to a readership that feels threatened — economically in an age of downward mobility, and politically in an age of terror.
Jonathan AlexanderAug 2, 2015
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Kids in the Aftermath: Katrina in Young Adult Fiction
Children's and young adult fiction about Hurricane Katrina helps shape cultural understanding of social justice.
Jonathan AlexanderJul 21, 2015
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature