Award-winning writer. Friend of ambitious people living with limitations.

My name is Esmé (pronounced EZ-may). I’m a writer. My debut novel, The Border of Paradise, has received accolades and kind words from places such as LitHub, NPR Books, and the Chicago Review of Books; I was selected by Granta for their once-a-decade Best of Young American Novelists list of 21 authors under 40; in 2018 I received the prestigious Whiting Award. I write essays that have been published in the Believer, Catapult, The New Inquiry, Lenny, Hazlitt, and Salon, and am working on a collection of essays about schizophrenia for Graywolf Press, which is the result of having won the 2016 Graywolf Nonfiction Prize. I write short stories, one of which was selected for Best American Short Stories 2018. And I create work here that I hope will help you on your creative journey, including a workbook-and-audio program about creating from one’s obsessions and themes (find that in the Shop).

This website is the place to be if you want to know more about my literary life—links to pieces I’ve published, information about my novel and forthcoming essay collection, dates for forthcoming literary events, press clips, and so forth. Dig in.

But… you can also find me at The Unexpected Shape, where I provide resources for ambitious people living with limitations to build resilience, excellence, and legacy. I offer a free series of emails called Encouragement Notes, as well as entry into a supportive, thriving Facebook group made up of fascinating and resilient people of all sorts. A popular workshop has become a short, sweet, and effective email course, A**-Kicking with Limitations. My signature online course, Rawness of Remembering, is a much-loved program that teaches the skills needed for restorative journaling through difficult times.

Hop on over to The Unexpected Shape, or stay a while here. Do both! Either way: welcome.

 

esme-signature

 

 

 

 

P.S. To find links to articles about me and podcasts I’ve been on, as well as media-ready photographs and contact information, please visit the Press page.

SaveSave

I’d love to stay in touch with you.

For from-the-heart letters about life, resilience, and creativity, sign up for With Love & Squalor. Each letter also contains links to excellent writing from around the web, a collection of Five [Extraordinary] Words, and occasional discounts and previews of upcoming works and creations. Signing up will also nab you the Productivity Journaling with Limitations e-book, a nifty tool to help you dive into analogue planning while living with limitations.

Instagram

  • Daphne is so good.
  • A good egg.
  • Hair touched up (I don’t normally get my hair done this close to my last appointment, but I have a photo shoot this weekend & wanted it to look nice). Listening to comfort podcasts over & over & over. Watched C play uproariously with my two-year-old niece, who adores him. Writing fiction longhand & loving it.
  • C and his family got me a chaise lounge for my birthday—it’s much easier for me to be reclining than to sit up (plus, how glam is the phrase “chaise lounge”), & having this new piece of furniture in the living room means that I have an option other than hiding in my study or in the bedroom when I need (or want) to be lying down. Daphne loves the new chaise lounge as well, & we spend a good amount of time together there now, cuddling and working and reading and resting. #encouragerssociety (Photo by @fleitasactual)
  • Brunch with C today: my fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice & his fresh-squeezed orange juice made for some beautiful pastel colors. I napped on the new chaise lounge. We played Mysterium (& lost) while listening to EVERYTHING IS LOVE. Thinking about alignment.
  • We went to a corgi convention today.
  • ATTN URGENT & IMPORTANT: Porochista needs help figuring out various things associated with her Harlem apartment, where there has been lead exposure, including what to do with her things, how to salvage things that might have been contaminated, & packing. if you are this person, please reach out to @pchza; if you think you might know this person, please have them reach out to Porochista; if you can share this call for help, please do. This issue is something that has been hanging over Porochista for a while now & it’s impossible for her to manage it herself. I really hope there’s someone out there who can help or knows where to find someone who can help. (Due to the algorithm, if you could please Like this post, it would help more people see it.)
  • I am at #TheAdventureZone show & I submit that my sister-in-law, the badass otter keeper, is the best Garyl here #TAZ #thezonecast
  • Love.

follow me @esmewwang

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy