Author and poet Maggie Nelson finds herself among 2016’s MacArthur Genius Grant recipients after writing nine books (five non-fiction and four poetry), including 2015's New York Times bestseller The Argonauts, which also won a National Book Critics Award in criticism. In The Argonauts, which details the love story between Nelson and her husband, gender-fluid artist Harry Dodge, Nelson further humanizes the trans experience. As she told The Guardian, “I like to think that what literature can do that op-ed pieces and other communications don’t do is describe felt experience, the flickering, bewildered places that people actually inhabit.” Nelson currently teaches in the CalArts MFA writing program.
Below are Maggie Nelson’s favorite books, available to purchase as a set or individually.