Anca Szilagyi

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Chicago, IL
Illinois US
Email: 
anca.l.szilagyi@gmail.com
Website: 
ancawrites.com
Twitter/X: 
@ancawrites

Author's Bio

Anca L. Szilágyi is the author of Daughters of the Air, which Shelf Awareness called "a striking debut from a writer to watch" and which The Seattle Review of Books called "a creation of unearthly talents." Buzzfeed Books called her second novel, Dreams Under Glass, "a novel for our modern times." Her fiction appears in Lilith Magazine, Confrontation, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere. Her nonfiction appears in Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, and Orion, among other publications. Born in Queens and raised in Brooklyn, she holds degrees from McGill University, Columbia University, and the University of Washington. Currently, she lives in Chicago and teaches online at Hugo House, StoryStudio Chicago, the Newberry Library, and Atlas Obscura.

Education: 
University of Washington, Seattle MFA
Writers Retreats: 
Tin House Summer Workshop
Vermont Studio Center
Literary agent: 
Erin Clyburn

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Journals:
Catapult
,
Electric Literature
,
Fiddlehead
,
Los Angeles Review of Books
,
Orion
,
The Nervous Breakdown

Fiction

Anthologies:
Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine (Brandeis University Press, 2022)
,
Lilac City Fairy Tales Vol. IV, Towers and Dungeons (Scablands Books, 2018)
,
The Middle of Nowhere: Horror in Rural America (Pill Hill Press, 2010)
Books:
Dreams Under Glass (Lanternfish Press, 2022)
,
Daughters of the Air (Lanternfish Press, 2017)
Chapbook:
Sugar (Chin Music Press, 2018)
Journals:
Antigonish Review
,
Ascent Aspirations
,
Cafe Irreal
,
Cicada
,
Confrontation
,
Fairy Tale Review
,
Gastronomica
,
Istanbul Literary Review
,
Massachusetts Review
,
Monkeybicycle
,
Moss
,
Pindeldyboz
,
Rockhurst Review
,
Southern Ocean Review
,
Western Humanities Review
,
Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art, and Thought
Prizes won: 

Lilith Magazine Fiction Prize (2017); Artist Trust / Gar LaSalle Storytelling Award (2015); Jack Straw Fellowship (2015); 4Culture Art Project Grant (2014); Made at Hugo House Fellowship (2012-13); Richard Blessing Award (2010); Special Mention, Salem College International Literary Awards (2012)

Watch

Listen

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Elena Ferrante, Mavis Gallant, Angela Carter, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Herta Muller, Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka, Anton Chekhov, Laurie Colwin, Iris Murdoch.
What I'm reading now: 
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky, The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson, Night and Day by Virginia Woolf, The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Hungarian American, Jewish, Romanian
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Queens, NY
New York
Raised in: 
Brooklyn, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 19, 2024