About
Ashley Farmer is the author of the essay collection Dear Damage (Sarabande Books, 2022), winner of the 2022 International Rubery Book Award in Nonfiction and the 2020 Sarabande Series in Kentucky Literature, as well as three other books. Her work has been published in places like Gay Magazine, TriQuarterly, The Progressive, Santa Monica Review, Buzzfeed, Flaunt, Nerve, Potomac Review, Gigantic, Salt Hill Journal, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of Ninth Letter’s Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Review’s Short Fiction Award, a Best American Essays notable distinction, and fellowships from Syracuse University and the Baltic Writing Residency. Ashley lives in Salt Lake City, UT with the writer Ryan Ridge.
Salon's Favorite Books of 2022
Buzzfeed, "17 Short Story And Essay Collections For When You Want To Laugh, Cry, Think, Or Swoon"
"Lyrical and poignant."
―Roxane Gay on "Mercy"
"A love letter and a dirge, a rumination on grief, family, a life in the arts, and never less than beautiful."
―"Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2022" by Ben Tanzer, LitReactor
"Remembering an act of violence born not out of malice, but love, Farmer’s narrative is melancholic, but still full of hope."
―"Mourning Songs for Lives, and Art, That Could Have Been," by Kat Chow, The New York Times
"[G]ripping from the start...a truly unique and fascinating book."
―"17 Short Story And Essay Collections For When You Want To Laugh, Cry, Think, Or Swoon," Buzzfeed
"Poet Farmer (The Women) parses her complicated family history to create a heart-wrenching portrait of love, family, loss, and aging in this astounding collection.....In 'Mercy,' she writes, 'while I’m skeptical of mining beauty from pain... or landing on a diamond takeaway or even claiming good can come from it, I’ve learned that time-freezing anguish makes for micro-moments of unexpected reverence.' Farmer exceeds her intention; the moments she depicts teem with power. This potent work introduces Farmer as a writer to watch."
―Publishers Weekly starred review
"Farmer’s straightforward prose...appears effortless."
―Harvard Review Online
"Dear Damage delves into an exploration of beginnings and endings, lightness and darkness, as well as the damaging policies that plague us as a country, and more. The book is ingeniously crafted using multiple forms―from legal documents to internet comments―all of which seamlessly refresh the memoir genre."
―Rebecca Holcomb for Southeast Review
"The short, connected, associative essays in Dear Damage are by turns ecstatic, stark, poetic, deeply and necessarily sorrowful, and also reportorial....Farmer is a curator of the stories of others, stories that are also her selves: writer, family member, and chorus in a Greek tragedy too. This book announces itself as a collection of essays, but it is also autobiography, commentary, legal transcripts, revised memories, and dream scenarios, all told with the vulnerability and intimacy of a writer a few lucky readers already know as a powerful voice talking back to 'Damage.'"
―Andrew Tonkovich, Los Angeles Review of Books
Salon's Favorite Books of 2022
Buzzfeed, "17 Short Story And Essay Collections For When You Want To Laugh, Cry, Think, Or Swoon"
"Lyrical and poignant."
―Roxane Gay on "Mercy"
"A love letter and a dirge, a rumination on grief, family, a life in the arts, and never less than beautiful."
―"Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2022" by Ben Tanzer, LitReactor
"Remembering an act of violence born not out of malice, but love, Farmer’s narrative is melancholic, but still full of hope."
―"Mourning Songs for Lives, and Art, That Could Have Been," by Kat Chow, The New York Times
"[G]ripping from the start...a truly unique and fascinating book."
―"17 Short Story And Essay Collections For When You Want To Laugh, Cry, Think, Or Swoon," Buzzfeed
"Poet Farmer (The Women) parses her complicated family history to create a heart-wrenching portrait of love, family, loss, and aging in this astounding collection.....In 'Mercy,' she writes, 'while I’m skeptical of mining beauty from pain... or landing on a diamond takeaway or even claiming good can come from it, I’ve learned that time-freezing anguish makes for micro-moments of unexpected reverence.' Farmer exceeds her intention; the moments she depicts teem with power. This potent work introduces Farmer as a writer to watch."
―Publishers Weekly starred review
"Farmer’s straightforward prose...appears effortless."
―Harvard Review Online
"Dear Damage delves into an exploration of beginnings and endings, lightness and darkness, as well as the damaging policies that plague us as a country, and more. The book is ingeniously crafted using multiple forms―from legal documents to internet comments―all of which seamlessly refresh the memoir genre."
―Rebecca Holcomb for Southeast Review
"The short, connected, associative essays in Dear Damage are by turns ecstatic, stark, poetic, deeply and necessarily sorrowful, and also reportorial....Farmer is a curator of the stories of others, stories that are also her selves: writer, family member, and chorus in a Greek tragedy too. This book announces itself as a collection of essays, but it is also autobiography, commentary, legal transcripts, revised memories, and dream scenarios, all told with the vulnerability and intimacy of a writer a few lucky readers already know as a powerful voice talking back to 'Damage.'"
―Andrew Tonkovich, Los Angeles Review of Books