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Christa Parravani

Assistant Professor

Christa Parravani is the author of Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood. Parravani is also the author of Indie bestselling Her: A Memoir, which shares Parravani's journey through grief after the loss of her identical twin sister Cara. Her was a Wall Street Journal, Salon, and Library Journal best book of the year. It was a Huffington Post best book of the last five years. Parravani's writing has appeared in GuernicaCatapult, Vogue, HobartMarie ClaireThe MillionsGlamourThe Washington PostSalonThe RumpusThe Daily BeastThe London TimesThe Daily MailThe Guardian, and DAME, among other places.  She has been featured in Poets and Writers, on NPR's All Things Considered, and To The Best of Our Knowledge, and on PBS’s Well Read, among many other magazines, network television programs, and public radio programs. 

Specializations:

  • American memoir and essay
  • Gender Studies 
  • Reproductive healthcare and social justice
  • Photographic practice, history and theory
  • 20th Century women's fiction
  • Visual art and literature
Selected Publications:
Books:
  • Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood (Henry Holt, 2020. Bonnier Books U.K., 2020)
  • Her: A Memoir (Henry Holt, 2013)
  • Women in Clothes (Viking, Penguin, 2014)

Awards and Fellowships:

  • Residency Fellowship, Corporation of Yaddo 
  • Residency Fellowship, Dora Maar House, Brown Fellows Foundation
  • Residency Fellowship, MacDowell 
  • Amazon Spotlight Debut of the month, March 2013
  • Indiebound Next Pick, March 2013
  • Salon Best book of 2013
  • Wall Street Journal best book of 2013
  • Library Journal best book of 2013
  • An Oprah, People, and NPR must read book of 2013
  • Huffington Post best book of the last 5 years for women, 2015
  • Finalist for Books for a Better Life Award, 2013
  • Residency Fellowship, Byrdcliffe Center for the Arts
  • Mortimer Frank Travel Fellowship, Columbia University