Photo by Caroline Tompkins

Eileen Myles (they/them, b. 1949) is a poet, novelist, and art journalist whose practice of vernacular first-person writing has made them one of the most recognized writers of their generation. Pathetic Literature, which they edited, came out in fall 2022. A Working Life, their newest collection of poems, is out in April. Myles’s fiction includes Chelsea Girls (1994) which just won France’s Inrockuptibles Prize for best foreign novel; Cool for You (2000); Inferno (a poet’s novel) (2010); and Afterglow (2017). Writing on art was gathered in the volume The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art (2009). They live in New York and in Marfa, Texas.

In conversation with Adjunct Assistant Professor and Nonfiction Advisor of Undergraduate Creative Writing James Yeh '09.

Art + Life is an intimate conversation series of poets and writers organized by Columbia’s Undergraduate Creative Writing Program for majors and aficionados. It has hosted writers like Pam Grossman, Morgan Parker, Tommy Pico, Jenny Zhang, and many others, and provides an opportunity for students to ask the invited reader questions and to engage in roundtable discussions with the artist.