Alt-Lit Ten Years Later: Who Went ‘Woke’?
Alt-lit was a literary movement that existed from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. Characterized by online forms of expressions such as internet slang and the use of all lower-case letters, as well as a wry sense of detachment, alt-lit was enormously influential on a new generation of writers looking to develop their audience on the internet. Some of the genre’s most well-known authors include Tao Lin, Marie Calloway, Melissa Broder (@sosadtoday), Sam Pink, and Noah Cicero. Its influence can be spotted across the spectrum of indie literature today, as well as in the Dimes Square movement and in its direct successor “Alt Lit 2.0” which features new voices like @writers_life_tips, Honor Levy, and Matthew Davis.
In a late-night, kefir-fueled Countere brainstorming session, we decided to chase the ghost of alt-lit. To make things spicy, we decided to not only remember the contributions of these writers, but to level their degree of wokeness in 2023. We tried our best to include as many alt-lit authors as possible; if you were a part of alt-lit, are not on this list, and feel like you are woke/not woke/possibly woke, let us know in the comments below.
Adam Humphreys
NOT WOKE
Adam Humphreys is a Canadian filmmaker who directed the documentary Shitty Youth (2012) about alt-lit writer Zachary German, as well as other films. He currently lives in Las Vegas. In 2023, he tweeted “it’s based to be Mormon. I love Mormonism and Mormons. My accountant is Mormon.”
Beach Sloth
WOKE
Beach Sloth is a writer and cultural critic. He ran the blog Beach Sloth, which reviewed the majority of published alt-lit works. He currently reviews music on his Substack, BeachSloth’s Newsletter. In 2022, he tweeted “Turn all houses of God into multi-family dwellings. God's got plenty of houses. You know who doesn't - the homeless.”
Blake Butler
POSSIBLY WOKE
Blake Butler is an American author. He has published nine book-length works, including Sky Saw (Tyrant Books) and Alice Knott (Penguin Random House). He founded the blog HTMLGIANT, which published many alt-lit writers, and two literary journals. In 2020, he tweeted “For ppl who hate cops some of y'all sure act like cops.”
Brandon Scott Gorrell
NOT WOKE
Brandon Scott Gorrell is an American writer and editor. In 2009, Muumuu House published his book during my nervous breakdown i want to have a biographer present. He is the former co-publisher of Thought Catalog, which published a wide variety of alt-lit and other writers, and currently the managing editor at Pirate Wires.
Christian Lorentzen
NOT WOKE
Christian Lorentzen is a writer who lives in New York. He is associated with magazine n+1, and his work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, the London Review of Books, and Harper’s. He recently appeared in a NYC play, Dimes Square. He currently writes essays on his Substack, CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN’S DIARY.
Darcie Wilder
POSSIBLY WOKE
Darcie Wilder is a writer who lives in New York. In 2017, Tyrant Books published her novel literally show me a healthy person. In 2023, she retweeted “It’s not a ‘gotcha’ to point out that I’ve never complained about the suspension of far right accounts, but do criticize banning of leftist accounts. My dream isn’t a world where fascism and anti-fascism have equal access to the public sphere. I want fascism to lose.”
David Fishkind
WOKE
David Fishkind is a writer from Massachusetts. He is the founder and editor of literary magazine logue. He was also a contributor to HTMLGiant. He currently lives in New York. In 2023, he tweeted “kill cops.”
Elizabeth Ellen
NOT WOKE
Elizabeth Ellen is an author and editor who lives in Michigan. She has published eight books and is the current owner of literary magazine Hobart. In 2022, she published an interview with writer Alex Perez titled “Alex Perez on the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Baseball, Growing up Cuban-American in Miami & Saying Goodbye to the Literary Community,” which went viral due to its anti-woke themes.
Frank Hinton
NOT WOKE
Frank Hinton is a writer from Canada. She was the founder of literary magazine Metazen and tumblr page Alt Lit Gossip; the former published alt-lit writers, the latter covered news from the scene. She also wrote the novel Action, Figure (Tiny Hardcore Press). In 2023, she tweeted, in reference to Tao Lin’s latest novel, “Leave Society. So far. So good. Thanks @tao_lin."
Jimmy Chen
NOT WOKE
Jimmy Chen is an American writer. He is the author of several books, including Typewriter (Magic Helicopter Press), and he was a frequent contributor to HTMLGiant. His writing has also appeared in McSweeney’s, Fanzine, Thought Catalog, and other outlets and anthologies. He currently lives in San Francisco. He maintains a blog and archive of his writing at The Embassy of Misguided Zen.
Jordan Castro
NOT WOKE
Jordan Castro is a writer from Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of The Novelist (Soft Skull Press) and two books of poetry. He is the former editor of New York Tyrant, the literary magazine affiliated with Tyrant Books. In 2021, he tweeted a video of him squatting 4 plates (400+ lbs).
Juliet Escoria
NOT WOKE
Juliet Escoria is an Australian-born writer, LA-raised writer. She has written four books: Black Cloud (Civil Coping Mechanisms), Witch Babies (Holler Presents), Witch Hunt (Lazy Fascist), and Juliet the Maniac (Melville House). Her work has appeared in publications such as Electric Literature, Hobart, and The Believer. She currently lives in West Virginia.
Megan Boyle
NOT WOKE
Megan Boyle is a writer from Baltimore. Tyrant Books published her 550-page-book, LIVEBLOG, in 2018. In 2021, she tweeted “One of my favorite ways to learn about people is through observing their negative projections, which are often carried by a present-based pathos of self-declaratory importance, but can also be gates guarding what's wounded them in the past. Makes me feel softer & loving to them.”
Mira Gonzalez
WOKE
Mira Gonzalez is an American writer and poet. In 2013, Sorry House press published her poetry book i will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together. In 2015, her and Tao Lin co-published a collection, Selected Tweets, which featured excerpts from their Twitter accounts and other pieces of art. She is a former contributor to Broadly. In 2021, she tweeted “btw if anyone wants to send me badge numbers of cops at echo park lake rn i'll happily tweet out their names and info.”
Precious Okoyomon
POSSIBLY WOKE
Precious Okoyomon is a Nigerian-American artist, poet, and chef. Her poetry has been published by New York Tyrant, among other literary journals, and appeared in her 2021 full-length collection but did u die? (Wonder). In 2018, Okoyomon and others formed collaborative queer cooking collective Spiral Theory Test Kitchen, whose food was described by actress Indya Moore as “the most queer, trans, gender non-conforming food I’ve ever had in my whole life,” joking “if you eat this food, it will deconstruct your toxic masculinity.”
Roxane Gay
WOKE
Roxane Gay is an American writer, editor, professor, and cultural critic. She was a contributor to HTMLGIANT. Some of her notable books include Bad Feminist (2014), An Untamed State (2014) and Difficult Women (2017). She is the editor of Gay Mag, former essays editor at The Rumpus, and a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel.
Sam Pink
NOT WOKE
Sam Pink is an author and painter from Chicago. He has published many books, including Person, The No Hellos Diet, Hurt Others, Rontel, Witch Piss, The Garbage Times/White Ibis, The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories, and most recently Fantastic Fictions. He currently lives in Michigan.
Scott McClanahan
NOT WOKE
Scott McClanahan is an author from West Virginia. He has published eight books, including The Collected Works of Scott McClanahan, Crapalachia, Hill William, and The Sarah Book. He founded the independent press Holler Presents and has released music with his band The Holler Boys. He currently lives in West Virginia.
Spencer Madsen
POSSIBLY WOKE
Spencer Madsen is an entrepreneur, poet, designer, and the founder of Sorry House Press. He has also published two books of poetry, A Million Bears and You Can Make Anything Sad. Until 2020, he maintained a popular, satirical Twitter account called @berniethoughts.
Tao Lin
NOT WOKE
Tao Lin is the author of the novel Leave Society (2021) and other books, including three other novels, three books of poetry, and one novella. He’s working on a book called Self Heal: How I Cured My Autism, Autoimmune Disorder, Eczema, Depression, and Other Health. In 2023, he tweeted “I'm sorry to say this—it's just an observation—but one of the worst things health-wise a person could've done the past few years is to be a party-line liberal, obeying government, trusting Big Pharma, ignoring nutrition, avoiding meat, quarantining, being afraid/resentful, etc.”
Timothy Willis Sanders
POSSIBLY WOKE
Timothy Willis Sanders is the author of Orange Juice and Other Stories (Publishing Genius, 2010) and Matt Meets Vik (CCM, 2014). He currently lives in San Francisco. In 2016, he wrote on HTMLGiant, “According to the internet, if only men voted, Trump would win in a landslide. When it’s only women or people of color voting, Trump loses. I don’t know if that’s true, but if so, taking away men’s right to vote seems not only justified, but imperative. :-).” Due to the timespan since his post, it is possible he feels less or more that way now.
Zachary German
WOKE
Zachary German is a writer from New Jersey. In 2009, Melville House Press published his debut novel eat when you feel sad. He currently lives in New York.
Unknown
Ana Carrete
Andrew Weatherhead
Austin Islam
Bebe Zeva
Ben Brooks
Chelsea Martin
Chris Dankland
Crispin Best
Elton Kennedy
Gabby Bess
Gene Morgan
Luna Miguel
Mallory Whitten
Marie Calloway
Melissa Broder (@sosadtoday)
Michael J Seidlinger
Noah Cicero
Rachel Bell
Richard Chiem
Victoria Trott
Steve Roggenbuck
Willis Plummer
& more…
Superlatives
Rest In Peace 🕊️
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