Lance Olsen

:::: Still ages till my next novel, An Inventory of Benevolent Butterflies, about the so-called outsider artist Henry Darger, appears from Dzanc (on my birthday in October, no less!), but we just okayed the cover design, & it's smoking. Henry—or at least my Henry—would totally approve.

The Room Without Dreams, by Lance Olsen In ten hours, the surgical resident Syd’s day at the hospital will be behind her and she will meet herself back in her apartment in Newark, propped among pillows beneath her puffy quilt upon…

An excerpt from my novel-in-progress, about the history of how philosophy is surgery, surgery (here attacks on male reproductive organs) philosophy, at one of the best journals of innovative writing practices, Big Other. I know, I know: just the right tonal gift for the holidays.

Pleased to no end by the cover & title page of the Russian edition of my novel My Red Heaven.

Delighted to link to an excerpt from my novel-in-progress, The Room Without Dreams, in the launch issue of a great new journal of innovative writing practices, The New Monuments.

Thanks so much!

Tremendously surprised & thrilled my novel Absolute Away (Dzanc) has won the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Fiction. Grateful all who cherish the universe of heterodox presses. Murakami: "If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking."

YouTube video by Big Other Lance Olsen Reads from ABSOLUTE AWAY, a Finalist for the 2024 BIG OTHER Book Award for Fiction

A short reading from my novel Absolute Away (Dzanc), finalist for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Fiction, about the last few minutes of Jackson Pollock's life on the back roads of Springs, NY. Massive thanks to John Madera for making this annual celebration of heterodox literature happen!

Spring hike along the Housatonic.

Announcing the Finalists for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Fiction! We’re excited to announce the finalists for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Fiction. The winner will be announced at the 2024 Big Other Book Awards Ceremony, which will be aired virtually (…

Blown away to find my novel Absolute Away (Dzanc Books) join the list of finalists (comprised of such fabulous writers as Poupeh Missaghi, Norman Locke, Vincent Czyz, & Jacob Wren) for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Fiction.

YouTube video by Big Other Lance Olsen Reads from SHRAPNEL, a Finalist for the 2024 BIG OTHER Book Award for Nonfiction

A short reading from my selected essays/interviews, Shrapnel (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024), a finalist for the 2024 Big Other Book Award.

Announcing the Finalists for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Nonfiction! We’re excited to announce the finalists for the 2024 Big Other Book Award for Nonfiction. The winner will be announced at the 2024 Big Other Book Awards Ceremony, which will be aired virtuall…

Honored to see my selected essays, Shrapnel (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024), a finalist for the Big Other Book Award for Nonfiction alongside work by some of my favorite writers, from Garielle Lutz and Catherine Malabou to Maggie Nelson. Congratulations one and all!

Fiction by Lance Olsen: "hanging scene #1—“it’s on her”—goodbye" "you’ve got to love it all away—your life—your grief—"

A million thanks to the rebirth of the awesome Fortnightly Review for including an excerpt from my forthcoming novel about the so-called outsider artist Henry Darger (An Inventory of Benevolent Butterflies, Dzanc Books, 2026).

Tremendously grateful & stoked to be awarded an Artistic Excellence Grant by the Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Fantastic visiting Lake Forest College, chatting with students, reading from Absolute Away, & enjoying an evening with the folks on the right (plus their accomplices zooming in from Florida) at the local bookclub. Thanks to the energetic multiplicity known as Davis Schneiderman for making it happen.

Lance Olsen - ABSOLUTE AWAY Beyond The Zero · Episode

Such a fun time talking to the wonderfully read Ben Lindner on Beyond the Zero about some books that led me to reading & writing, what I'm reading now, & my novels Always Crashing in the Same Car: A Novel After David Bowie & Absolute Away:

open.spotify.com/episode/5nbr...

In our Age of Christian Nationalist Chaos, one's instinct is to turn away, refuse to read/watch the news—which is what most Germans did in 1933. Move past the existential punch-drunkenness, resist loudly, remember moments like this for replenishment. This is what being on the frontlines feels like.