// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Mac Crane a good lifter? He's got a towering reputation.
Mac Crane | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marisa Crane Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Education | Drexel University |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Children | 2 |
| Writing career | |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Speculative fiction |
| Subjects | Nonfiction essays, poetry |
| Notable work | I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself (2023) |
| Notable awards | Lambda Literary Award (2024) |
| Website | www |
Mac Crane is an American writer.[1] Their debut novel, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, won the Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction.[2] Their short stories and nonfiction have appeared in Literary Hub, The Sun, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Joyland, The Offing, No Tokens, Passages North, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.[3][4][5][6]
Early life and education
[edit]Crane was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and raised in Philadelphia.[7][8] They were heavily involved in sports growing up and were also an avid reader.[1][9] From the age of six they aspired to be an author and a WNBA player.[10] They went on to play NCAA Division 1 basketball at Drexel University, but were unable to pursue a professional career due to multiple ACL tears.[8]
Career
[edit]Crane's work includes poetry, nonfiction essays, and fiction. Their debut poetry collection, Our Debatable Bodies, was published in 2019.[11]
Crane began writing their debut novel in 2018 and initially completed it as a short story.[12] However, after losing their job, they shifted focus to writing full-time and converting I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself to a novel.[12] The novel centers a queer parent, Kris, navigating parenthood after the loss of their partner during childbirth in a world where the government attaches extra shadows to those who have committed acts of harm or violence.[13] The novel was published in January 2023 (under their birth name, Marisa Crane) by Catapult and received positive critical reception. It was included on "Best Book" lists by Esquire, Library Journal, The Chicago Review of Books, and others.[14] The book won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction.[2]
Their second novel, A Sharp Endless Need, is a coming-of-age story centered around a high school basketball star dealing with the death of her father and a complicated relationship with their best friend.[15] It was released in 2025 by Dial Press.[10] The novel was a finalist for the 2026 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.[16]
Their debut short story collection, Perverts, was published July 7, 2026 from Dial Press. The Chicago Review of Books listed it as one of "Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026."[17] Book Riot called the book, "A provocative and uproarious collection about pleasure, performance, and pain, Perverts is an exaltation of the awesome depravity of queer modernity."[18]
Personal life
[edit]Crane is queer and nonbinary,[19] and uses they/them pronouns.[7][10] They are married with two children and reside in San Diego.[13]
Bibliography
[edit]Novels
[edit]- I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself. Catapult. 2023. ISBN 9781646222063.
- A Sharp Endless Need. Dial Press. 2025. ISBN 9780593733646.
Short story collection
[edit]- Perverts. Dial Press. 2026. ISBN 9780593733677.
Poetry collection
[edit]- Our Debatable Bodies. Animal Heart Press. 2019. ISBN 9780359542345.
References
[edit]- 1 2 Crane, Marisa "Mac" (2024-01-24). "Flying Still Matters". Brevity Mag. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- 1 2 "The 2024 Lambda Literary Award Winners". BOOK RIOT. 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ↑ "The Entire History of Us". Joyland. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
- ↑ "Mac Crane". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
- ↑ "The Shared Language of the Game: Mac Crane on Trying Out for Pro Basketball". lithub.com. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
- ↑ "I'll Make You Something". theoffingmag.com. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
- 1 2 "As a queer artist, 'our insistence on embracing ourselves, our joy and our love is something to celebrate'". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2023-07-09. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- 1 2 Berry, Lorraine (2023-01-18). "How one novelist built a world without prisons that's even crueler than ours". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ↑ "Mac (Marisa) Crane: On Basketball as Performance, the Dark Side of Perfectionism, the Jock-to-Writer Pipeline, and Their New Book 'A Sharp Endless Need'". Write or Die Magazine. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
- 1 2 3 Schnelbach, Leah (2024-06-11). "An Interview With Three Finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction". Reactor. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ↑ Neilson, Sarah (2023-01-20). "'I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself' Unleashes a Dark World". Shondaland. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20.
- 1 2 Anderson, Lindsey (2023-09-22). "Mac Crane explores shame and punishment in debut speculative novel". SGN. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- 1 2 Sullivan, Kate (2023-05-12). "On Persisting: An Interview with Marisa (Mac) Crane". Columbia Journal. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself". Catapult. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ↑ Jude, Jen St (2025-05-13). ""Basketball Means Transcendence": A Conversation with Mac Crane on 'A Sharp Endless Need'". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
- ↑ "2026 Lambda Literary Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-06.
- ↑ "Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 2026-05-27.
- ↑ "Perverts: Stories I". Book Riot. Retrieved 16 Sept 2026.
- ↑ Crane, Mac (March 2024). "Loving a Sport That Doesn't Always Love Me Back". The Sun Magazine. No. 579.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
