Elle Nash is an American author known for her provocative explorations of obsession, desire, and the darker aspects of the human experience. Her works include Animals Eat Each Other (2018), a novel praised by O, The Oprah Magazine and Publishers Weekly for its raw and complex narrative; Gag Reflex (2022), a biting satire of modern culture; and Deliver Me (2023), a deeply disturbing yet poetic examination of desire and loss. Nash's collection of short stories, Nudes (2021).
Elle Nash was born in Missouri. Nash developed her craft at Tom Spanbauer's Dangerous Writing workshop in Portland, Oregon, a programme that emphasises emotional authenticity. Nash credits this mentorship with shaping her debut novel, Animals Eat Each Other, which explores a tangled love triangle and the blurred lines between self-destruction and intimacy. Reflecting on the workshop's philosophy, Nash said: "Good writing has a feeling to it. It's about bringing the reader to their knees.
Her latest novel, Deliver Me (2023), is a harrowing tale set in the Missouri Ozarks. The protagonist, Dee-Dee, works in a meatpacking plant and longs for motherhood despite repeated miscarriages. After faking a pregnancy, Dee-Dee spirals into a web of deceit and emotional chaos, culminating in a brutal and inevitable reckoning.
Divided into three 'trimesters', the novel combines visceral imagery with an unflinching look at societal pressures and personal delusion. Critics have praised Deliver Me for its inventive structure and ability to evoke empathy for a profoundly flawed narrator. As one reviewer noted, Nash's restrained yet penetrating prose reveals "the lengths to which we will go to find meaning in the face of despair".
In addition to her fiction, Nash is the founding editor of Witch Craft Magazine and has edited for Hobart Pulp. Her essays and stories have appeared in Guernica, BOMB, Lit Hub, and New York Tyrant. She also mentors writers, focusing on dismantling traditional writing rules to uncover authentic voices.
Currently living in Arkansas, Elle Nash balances her writing with reading tarot and pursuing eclectic artistic interests.
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