Lily James was born in 1972 in Detroit, studied classical piano, violin, and clarinet, pursued an active and successful horse show career, and graduated from high school as a National Merit Scholar in 1989.
She went to Bowling Green State University on a full scholarship, and after graduating in 1993 she went on to do a Masters degree in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her Master’s Thesis, The Great Taste of Straight People, was published in 1997 by Black Ice Books. Lily has been invited to give readings at numerous bookstores in Chicago, and while promoting her first book she also read in Denver, San Francisco, and St. Louis. She has written music reviews for Alternative Press, movie reviews for TNT RoughCut, and a relationship advice column for the Playboy-owned Rouze web site.
At the age of 24, with an M.A. in English under her belt, Lily took two years off to get married, start a web design business called Rock Paper Scissors Design, and launch The Postfeminist Playground, a highly successful online journal of postfeminism. The Postfeminist Playground became an all-consuming project, as for two years Lily wrote daily columns and edited monthly content on topics concerning smart sexy women who no longer relate to feminist agendas. She also did all the web design and implementation for the magazine. Lily returned to the University of Illinois to pursue her Ph.D., but after two years of study and writing her first novel, she got pregnant and moved to Virginia with her husband. There she finished off her novel, High Drama in Fabulous Toledo, which came out from FC2 in April 2001.After various moves around the south, Lily settled in Norfolk, Virginia, where she now lives with her son, her fetus, her husband, the tattered remnants of her youthful idealism, and a new novel in its early stages.
Education
M.A.
in English, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, May 1995.
B.A. in English, Bowling Green State University, May 1993.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant, University
of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
August 1993 – May 1995. Solely responsible for
instruction of students in my classes.
Composition
I: Short Essays
Topic:
“The Conflict of the Individual with Society”
Sample
Readings: Lao Tzu, Frederick Douglas, Ayn Rand, Karl Marx.
Composition
II: Research Papers
Topic:
“Deconstructing Modern Heroism and Villainy”
Sample
Readings: Sigmund Freud, Martin Luther King, Adolf Hitler.
Instructor, American School
of Correspondence, Chicago, IL May 1996 – January 1997
Sophomore
level high school English grammar and writing.
Teaching Assistant,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.
August 1997 – 1999. Solely responsible for
instruction of students in my classes.
Composition
I: Short Essays
Topic:
“Postmodern Cyborgs”
Sample
Readings: Donna Haraway, Sandy Stone, Chris Hables Grey Web
Site: http://www.rpsd.com/cyborgia
Composition
II: Research Papers
Topic:
“Researching the Future”
Sample
Readings: Life on the Screen:
Identity in the Age of the Internet by Sherry Turkle.
Introduction to Fiction Writing
Topic:
“Finding the Story”
Sample Readings: The Art of Fiction by John Gardner.
Book Publications
The Great Taste of Straight People, short story collection, published in 1997 by Black Ice Books.
High Drama in Fabulous Toledo, novel, published in 2001 by Fiction Collective Two.
"The
Postfeminist Playground," Rebel
Yell: A Guide to Writing Fiction, interview about The Postfeminst Playground, by Lance Olsen, August 1998.
“20
Sexiest People on the Internet,” Net Magazine, November 1997.
"Click
into The Playground," profile of The
Postfeminist Playground and its creators, San Jose Mercury News, by Mike Antonucci, October 1997.
"Net
Babes," coverage of "Babes in Boyland" event, San
Francisco Chronicle, by Tom Abate, October 1997.
"'Babes'
Talk About Women on the Web," coverage of "Babes in Boyland"
event, TechWeb, by Malcolm
Maclachlan, October 1997.
"Some
Girls Just Want to Have Fun," profile of The Postfeminist Playground and its creators, Chicago Tribune, by Linda Castrone, September 1997.
"Art
Beat: Postfeminism," interview on The
Postfeminist Playground and postfeminism, National Public Radio, by Cheryl Colopy, December 1996.
"Postfeminist Chicks," interview on Playground and postfeminism, The Express, by Laura Hagar, October 1996.
“Horse,”
Fiction International, 2000.
"Up
There," Chick-Lit: Postfeminist
Fiction, Fiction Collective 2 Press, October 1995.
Reprinted in
Alternative-X, March
1997.
“Get
Paid to Play,” Electronic Book
Review, January 1997.
“Chapter
Nine,” Black Ice: Origin of the
Species, December 1996.
“Suitcase,”
Tao Foot, September 1995.
“Film Star Chronicles,” Prairie Margins, March 1993.
“Out
of Your Mind,” by Dub Narcotic Sound System
“In
Decadent Times” by Zettaimmu
“The
Fantastic Plastic Machine,” by Fantastic Plastic Machine
“Jubilee,”
by Grant Lee Buffalo
“What
Makes it Go?” by Komeda
“Think
Tank,” by Henry Rollins
“Blue
Wonder Power Milk,” by Hooverphonic
“Resurrected,”
by Imbue
“Trickster,”
by Kidney Thieves
“How
We Quit the Forest,” by Rasputina
Movie Reviews for TNT
Roughcut
“Beyond
Silence”
“Dancer
Texas, Pop. 81”
“Pi”
“The
Governess”
“Whatever”
“Two Girls and a Guy”
Conferences/Lectures
"Babes
in Boyland," Event Organizer, Host, and Speaker, Cyberworld, SF, CA,
October 1997.
"Postfeminist
Cyborgs," Panel Paper, Reconcilable (In)Differences: The Marriage
Between Writers and Theorists Conference, University of Denver, Denver,
CO, April 1997.
“Postfeminist
Fiction,” Reading and Panel, Postmodern Piracy Conference, Kent State
University, Kent, Ohio, April 1999.
Awards
Robert
Byrd Congressional Scholarship, 1989
National
Merit Scholar, 1989
Full
Scholarship, Bowling Green State University, 1989
Tuition
Waiver and Teaching Assistantship, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1993-1995,
1997-1999.
Fiction
Collective 2, Annual Fiction Manuscript Competition, Runner-up, 1995
Goodnow
Award for Short Fiction, Runner-up, 1999
Nominated
for Best New American Voices
anthology, Harcourt Brace, 1999
No naked pictures. Sorry.
Lily before baby.
Lily after baby.
Contact: lily@lilylit.com
