About
Pronounced EZ-may
Hi. I’m Esmé Weijun Wang, a writer, speaker, and founder of The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy. I believe that living with limitations is something that can exist alongside an ambitious life.
True story: I’m a New York Times-bestselling writer and my disabilities often get in the way of what I want to do.
Now, I help ambitious writers living with constraints of all kinds to master the skills they need to become more confident, skilled memoir writers—to write work that adds to the literary canon with freedom and joy.
From the San Francisco Bay Area, my journey as a Taiwanese American writer, writing teacher, and public speaker has been shaped by the intersection of my identities—queer, disabled, and creative—each unfolding gradually like intricate origami over time.
Writing became my sanctuary early in life. It was a space to explore my own thoughts and transform experiences into tangible form. This led me to the University of Michigan's MFA program, where I refined my craft, unaware of how dramatically my path would soon change.
In my late twenties and early thirties, life shifted profoundly with diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type), fibromyalgia, and POTS—conditions that altered my relationship with reality and my body. The conventional writing career I had envisioned fell apart. And yet: from this wretched circumstance emerged something unexpected—a different, equally valid creative life.
I adapted, learning to write in fragments and stolen moments. My second book, The Collected Schizophrenias, was largely composed on my iPhone while lying in bed. This new approach to creativity—one that honored limitations rather than fighting them—led to remarkable success: The Border of Paradise (2016) and The Collected Schizophrenias
(2019), the latter becoming a New York Times bestseller. My work has received the prestigious Whiting Award, Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, Northern California Book Award, and I was named one of Granta's 21 Best of Young American Novelists in their once-in-a-decade list.
What began as personal adaptation evolved into methodology. I began teaching workshops nationwide and coaching writers on book proposals, helping them publish in prestigious venues including the New Yorker and secure their own book deals.
This evolution led to founding The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy, specifically designed for writers navigating limitations. The name acknowledges that creative lives don't always follow conventional patterns—and that difference doesn't diminish their beauty or worth.
Today, I continue writing while running the Academy and speaking through the Tuesday Agency. Most meaningful is witnessing hundreds of students discover their own unexpected shapes, honoring both creative ambitions and limitations.
I believe there's no single way to be a writer. The narrative suggesting otherwise silences important voices. My work creates space for these voices, showing that limitation isn't creativity's enemy but often a fascinating collaborator.
The stories we most need might come from those writing in waiting rooms, during caregiving breaks, or from their beds. These stories matter. These voices matter. Making space for them enriches our collective understanding of what it means to be human in all our beautiful complexity.
Ready to find your unexpected shape as a writer? Explore my workshops, coaching services, and community resources designed for writers navigating limitations.
Keywords: disabled writer, chronic illness writing, Taiwanese American author, mental health writer, writing with limitations, The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy, Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias, creative writing coach
The Basics
About My Writing
I’m a writer and essayist—the author of the New York Times-bestselling essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias (2019), as well as the novel The Border of Paradise (2016), which was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2016 and one of Electric Literature’s Top 25 Novels of 2016; I was selected by Granta for their once-a-decade Best of Young American Novelists list of 21 authors under 40. The Collected Schizophrenias garnered the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, the Northern California Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, and the prestigious Whiting Award for nonfiction.I’ve also made appearances on the Today Show, NPR’s Weekend Edition, KCRW, the New York Times, the CBC, Flavorwire, and the New Yorker Online.
What I'm
loving
Notion. Salty plum powder. Spring in Taiwan. Live theater. The curious feeling of wonder. BBQs. Bar karaoke. Fountain pens. Carol. Raw oysters. Long phone calls with my BFF.
What I'm
reading
Beloved. The Haunting of Hill House. Lolita. His Dark Materials. Babel. Gilead. Rebecca. Whatever book I'm considering blurbing at the moment. Some kind of decidedly predictable mystery/thriller that I nonetheless enjoy.
What I'm
listening to
The Softies. The Decemberists. The Rondelles. Bikini Kill. Nicholas Britell. Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor soundtracks. Podcasts all the time: Too Scary; Didn't Watch; Pump Talk; If Books Could Kill, and more.
assorted facts
I'm a Gemini Sun and a Capricorn rising, a 4 on the Enneagram, and an INFJ according to Myers-Briggs. I used to be voice actor for educational DVDs, which I did after becoming a regular on a children's TV show. A Taiwanese dramatic miniseries was created about my grandmother, who is now deceased.
ON MY MOODBOARD
love
glamour
always
oysters!
"[Esmé Weijun Wang] finds light in her daily quest to help others create, despite the limitations they may face."
— New York Times, Women in the World
illustration by Julia Leister
Here are a variety of media bios that you and your publication/organization can use.
SHORTER BIO:
Esmé Weijun Wang is the author of the New York Times-bestselling essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias and the novel The Border of Paradise. Born in the Midwest to Taiwanese parents, Esmé lives in San Francisco, and can be found at esmewang.com.
LONGER BIO:
Esmé Weijun Wang is a New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author of The Collected Schizophrenias and The Border of Paradise. Her work has garnered the Whiting Award, Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, and selection as one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists in their once-a-decade list. After being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and later with physical conditions including fibromyalgia, Wang developed innovative approaches to sustain her writing—often working from bed using her iPhone. This experience inspired her to create The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy, a program specifically designed for writers navigating limitations. As both an educator and public speaker represented by the Tuesday Agency, Wang has helped hundreds of writers develop sustainable creative practices that honor their constraints while achieving meaningful publication goals. Her work consistently demonstrates that powerful writing emerges not despite limitations, but through them. Find her online at esmewang.com.
MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHS—
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Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
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Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
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Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
Download: Print (.tiff) / Web (.jpg)
Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
Credit: Esmé Weijun Wang
Download: Print (.tiff) / Web (.jpg)
Download: Print (.tiff) / Web (.jpg)
Representation
LITERARY AGENT
JIN AUH, THE WYLIE AGENCY
JAUH@WYLIEAGENCY.COM
SPEAKING REPRESENTATION
Trinity Ray, The Tuesday Agency
trinity@tuesdayagency.com
Office: 319-338-7080 • Mobile: 319-400-9031
PUBLICITY
publicity@esmewang.com
ASSISTANT
dan@esmewang.com
