Christopher Barzak
@cbarzak.bsky.social
🏳️🌈 Author: One for Sorrow, The Love We Share Without Knowing, Wonders of the Invisible World, Before & Afterlives, The Gone Away Place, Monstrous Alterations, and A Voice Calling. Shirley Jackson Award for Best Single Author Collection. Stonewall Honor.
I’m so excited for my former student, Mary Carroll Leoson, whose short story collection, Devil’s Oak has finally released! I wrote the introduction to this gorgeous volume of supernatural and fantastical stories, and I’m happy to encourage others to pick up her book and love them as much as I do!
November 8, 2025 at 4:36 AM
I’m so excited for my former student, Mary Carroll Leoson, whose short story collection, Devil’s Oak has finally released! I wrote the introduction to this gorgeous volume of supernatural and fantastical stories, and I’m happy to encourage others to pick up her book and love them as much as I do!
I’m honored to share that I’ve been named Graduate Alumni of the Year by Chatham University. This recognition means a lot to me and the work I’ve done as a writer since graduating with my MFA. Photo of me back when I was a student at Chatham below. It’s been a while, but I’m still smiling.
September 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I’m honored to share that I’ve been named Graduate Alumni of the Year by Chatham University. This recognition means a lot to me and the work I’ve done as a writer since graduating with my MFA. Photo of me back when I was a student at Chatham below. It’s been a while, but I’m still smiling.
Today was my 50th (!?!) birthday. Now for something sweet—orange olive oil cake—made by my sweet man. (Thank you, Connor, you made today so special💗). Looking forward to as many more years and sweets as I’m allowed.
July 22, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Today was my 50th (!?!) birthday. Now for something sweet—orange olive oil cake—made by my sweet man. (Thank you, Connor, you made today so special💗). Looking forward to as many more years and sweets as I’m allowed.
Back from the Jackson Awards w/ a nomination stone. I won a Jackson for Best Collection in 2013, but you still get a stone even if you win. A few more and I’ll build a black box that no one in the village can remember where it came from, just that it’s always been part of the annual tradition.
July 21, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Back from the Jackson Awards w/ a nomination stone. I won a Jackson for Best Collection in 2013, but you still get a stone even if you win. A few more and I’ll build a black box that no one in the village can remember where it came from, just that it’s always been part of the annual tradition.
My first novel, One for Sorrow, is being released in translation in Poland on July 29th by Zysk i S-ka Wydawnictwo. Here’s the cover and description. I’m always surprised and grateful that my work, even my earliest writing, is still out there wending its way through the world.
July 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
My first novel, One for Sorrow, is being released in translation in Poland on July 29th by Zysk i S-ka Wydawnictwo. Here’s the cover and description. I’m always surprised and grateful that my work, even my earliest writing, is still out there wending its way through the world.
Unknown bucket list item: boyfriend winning me a teddy bear at a Pride festival. #pride2025
June 22, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Unknown bucket list item: boyfriend winning me a teddy bear at a Pride festival. #pride2025
Sooooooo good. And so gay, thank god.
June 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Sooooooo good. And so gay, thank god.
No Kings Day NYC.
June 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
No Kings Day NYC.
Heading out to read at the KGB Bar for the fantastic fiction reading series tonight!
June 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Heading out to read at the KGB Bar for the fantastic fiction reading series tonight!
I’ll be reading with the wonderful writer, David Surface, on June 11th at the legendary KGB Bar in NYC. Looking forward to reading with David and seeing some old and new faces. If you’re around town then, come give us a listen!
May 30, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I’ll be reading with the wonderful writer, David Surface, on June 11th at the legendary KGB Bar in NYC. Looking forward to reading with David and seeing some old and new faces. If you’re around town then, come give us a listen!
So excited to dive into this debut novel by Silvia Park. Silvia was a student of mine at the Clarion Writers Workshop at UCSD in 2017, where they were working on this story at the time. This is the good stuff, the kind that someone has taken their time with as they developed it. #clarion2017
April 10, 2025 at 1:29 AM
So excited to dive into this debut novel by Silvia Park. Silvia was a student of mine at the Clarion Writers Workshop at UCSD in 2017, where they were working on this story at the time. This is the good stuff, the kind that someone has taken their time with as they developed it. #clarion2017
It’s cold, but we’re staying warm!
January 22, 2025 at 6:41 AM
It’s cold, but we’re staying warm!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Macy’s parade! Just a quick jaunt and back for the holiday. It was claustrophobically crowded and the rain never stopped, but I pretended to be a New Yorker, and New Yorkers can do anything.
November 28, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Happy Thanksgiving from the Macy’s parade! Just a quick jaunt and back for the holiday. It was claustrophobically crowded and the rain never stopped, but I pretended to be a New Yorker, and New Yorkers can do anything.
Hello, hello, hello! Nice to have a friend come into town to decompress from chaotic times together. :)
November 10, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Hello, hello, hello! Nice to have a friend come into town to decompress from chaotic times together. :)
Need a ghost story for spooky season? Check out my novella A Voice Calling.
October 24, 2024 at 8:25 PM
Need a ghost story for spooky season? Check out my novella A Voice Calling.
If you’re looking for a ghost story to watch during spooky season, Jamie Marks is Dead, the film based on my first novel, One for Sorrow, is playing on the Peacock app for its Halloween collection, sub-category: queer horror.
October 24, 2024 at 7:46 PM
If you’re looking for a ghost story to watch during spooky season, Jamie Marks is Dead, the film based on my first novel, One for Sorrow, is playing on the Peacock app for its Halloween collection, sub-category: queer horror.
Some faces that have come and spent time with me this July. Friends from the past but always present, and former students who are now friends (and who took me out for a wonderful birthday dinner).
July 29, 2024 at 10:43 PM
Some faces that have come and spent time with me this July. Friends from the past but always present, and former students who are now friends (and who took me out for a wonderful birthday dinner).
Spent some time with old friends last night as we came together for the memorial of my godfather, Richard Bowes. It was held at the Stonewall Inn and was an absolutely stunning send off for Rick.
May 1, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Spent some time with old friends last night as we came together for the memorial of my godfather, Richard Bowes. It was held at the Stonewall Inn and was an absolutely stunning send off for Rick.
We held our inaugural Lavender Graduation at YSU today and the students asked me to be their first keynote speaker. It was fantastic to see all the happy LGBTQ graduates smiling in their seats!
April 26, 2024 at 10:29 PM
We held our inaugural Lavender Graduation at YSU today and the students asked me to be their first keynote speaker. It was fantastic to see all the happy LGBTQ graduates smiling in their seats!
Did you all know that Ursula Le Guin once said of my writing that it’s brilliant and charming? It was when she was a jury member for the James Tiptree Jr. Award and one of my stories was on the honor list. She wrote a blurb about it for the award website. Now it is emblazoned in A Voice Calling. 😍
March 22, 2024 at 12:54 AM
Did you all know that Ursula Le Guin once said of my writing that it’s brilliant and charming? It was when she was a jury member for the James Tiptree Jr. Award and one of my stories was on the honor list. She wrote a blurb about it for the award website. Now it is emblazoned in A Voice Calling. 😍
Celebrating the birthday of my novella, A Voice Calling, with an early dinner. Dinner not pictured since I ate it before I thought to take a photo. But it was all good, as was this day!
March 19, 2024 at 10:21 PM
Celebrating the birthday of my novella, A Voice Calling, with an early dinner. Dinner not pictured since I ate it before I thought to take a photo. But it was all good, as was this day!
Jeffrey Ford, one of my favorite writers who also happens to be one of my favorite people in general, came into town to run a fiction workshop for Lit Youngstown and I got to catch up with him after too many years. (He didn’t order the onion rings like John Scalzi did a couple of weeks ago).
March 10, 2024 at 1:31 AM
Jeffrey Ford, one of my favorite writers who also happens to be one of my favorite people in general, came into town to run a fiction workshop for Lit Youngstown and I got to catch up with him after too many years. (He didn’t order the onion rings like John Scalzi did a couple of weeks ago).
Grateful for old friends who come by to lift your spirits.
February 27, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Grateful for old friends who come by to lift your spirits.