Allegra Hyde

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde's new story collection, The Last Catastrophe, was named an Editors' Choice selection by The New York Times.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published an essay on "Exit Strategies" in fiction at LitHub. She also published short fiction titled "Mobilization," about a vast herd of RVs, in the latest issue of Story. In Conjunctions, she published a short story titled "Dear Employee" about a eco-utopian vision for job redistribution. "Dear Employee" will be reprinted in Harper's Magazine this summer.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published her third book, the speculative story collection The Last Catastrophe. Comprised of fourteen short stories and a novella, the collection imagines vegan zombies, a herd of RVs, a finishing school in space, and more, to speak to futures rife with disaster. Booklist noted in a starred review that THE LAST CATASTROPHE exposes "the absurdities of trying to survive in a world increasingly warped by climate change, hunger, and capitalist priorities." The Chicago Review of Books called the collection both "funny" and "remarkably hopeful" despite its subject matter.

Read interviews with Hyde about The Last Catastrophe at Electric Literature, Shondaland, The Creative Independent, and also listen to podcasts from the Ohio Center for the Book, Keen on, Austin Liti Limits, among other venues. To read about and listen to a playlist inspired by the collection, check out Largehearted Boy.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde's debut novel ELEUTHERIA was longlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story titled "A Whale Tale" in the Rainbow Issue of The Fairy Tale Review, an issue dedicated to queer contemporary fairy tales. She also published a short story titled "Democracy in America" in The Massachusetts Review that reimagines Alexis de Tocqueville's journey through America through a speculative, near-future lens.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde was interviewed by Gulf Coast about her forthcoming story collection The Last Catastrophe.

Allegra Hyde's forthcoming story collection, The Last Catastrophe, has been named a most anticipated book of 2023 by The Millions and Our Culture. Additionally, Polygon named the collection a most anticipated science fiction and fantasy book, noting that "Allegra Hyde wrote one of 2022’s best novels, Eleutheria, and her second story collection, The Last Catastrophe, contains more optimistic visions of the future... despite the specter of climate change." The Last Catastrophe will launch in March.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story in The Sun. The story, titled "Frights", considers climate change from the perspective of ghosts. It will be included in her forthcoming story collection, The Last Catastrophe.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde wrote about her "Year in Reading" for The Millions. 

Assistant Professor Allegra Hyde's novel ELEUTHERIA was named one of "The Best Books of 2022" by The New Yorker.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published an essay in The Rumpus. Titled "Somewhere Over the Rainbow: A Search for Transcendence and Annihilation in New Zealand's Hippie Paradise," the essay explores how living in hippie communes shaped her identity as a person and as a writer.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde visited SUNY Fredonia as an invited speaker for the Mary Louise White Visiting Writers Series. She discussed role of climate fiction in environmental activism and read from her novel Eleutheria.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story titled "The Future is a Click Away" in BOMB. The story imagines a powerful near future algorithm that takes targeted marketing to an extreme. The piece is available in the latest issue of BOMB, and will also be included in Hyde's forthcoming story collection, The Last Catastrophe.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde contributed to a panel on "Climate Fiction" at the Salem Literary Festival earlier in September. On the panel, she discussed the rise of environmentally conscious literature, the relationship between art and activism, as well as her own novel ELEUTHERIA.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde conducted several recent interviews about her novel, ELEUTHERIA. For Catapult, she spoke with Jean Marc Ah-Sen about the concept of climate fiction and reckoning with the patterns of the past. For the EcoTheo Review, she spoke with Esteban Rodriguez about the relationship between literature and activism. And for 91.3 WYSO, she spoke to Vick Mickunas about how storytelling can be a source of entertainment as well as a pointed call to action.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short humor piece in The New Yorker titled "Aphorisms for the Anthropocene." The piece offers a satirical take on climate change and the realities of our "new normal."

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde was interviewed on the podcast "Origin Story" about her novel, ELEUTHERIA, as well as about the utopian imagination, climate activism, and approaches to writing.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde presented at the annual Ohioana Book Festival. Joining other recently-published Ohio authors, Hyde discussed her approach to "Literary Fiction" and the notion of genre, as well as her novel, Eleutheria. On a related note: Eleutheria was recently recommended by New York Times critic Molly Young, who described the book as "a weird, melancholic adventure novel—not a genre specimen you come across every day."

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story in the inaugural issue of CODE Lit, an online zine dedicated to exploring the full scope of possibilities for digital publishing. Hyde's story, "Eat Me (Alternative Scenarios in the Garden of Eden)", uses digital erasure to offer readers multiple versions of the same initial text.

Hyde was also recently interviewed by Dana Diehl for Long Leaf Review about her writing process and her novel, Eleutheria. Hyde additionally appeared on the Thresholds podcast, hosted by Jordan Kisner, to talk about her experience in utopian communities, and how they have since informed her writing practice.

Allegra Hyde, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, published an essay in LitHub called “What Makes A Great Opening Line?” about the qualities of compelling first sentences in fiction. She also published a series of four craft capsules for Poets & Writers on setting and ecology in fiction: “You Can Never Do Just One Thing,” “The Face in the Whirlpool,” “If a Tree Falls,” and “These Walls Won’t Stop Talking.” 

Hyde was interviewed about her novel, Eleutheria, by Matt Bell for BOMB, Rachel Reeher for Hayden’s Ferry Review, Adam Vitcavage for Debutiful, Anne Nickoloff for Cleveland.com, and by Chris Holmes for the podcast Burned by Books. 

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde had her debut novel Eleutheria reviewed by the LA Times. “Allegra Hyde’s climate-fiction narrator is the post-cynical heroine we need,” reads the review. “This is cli-fi even when it turns intimate, with the first kiss between lovers or the failures of addict parents. Individual tensions generate unexpected crackle, but everyone’s caught in the same toxic knots, their environment collapsing around them.” Additionally, Town & Country highlighted Eleutheria, calling it “A climate change novel, yes, but also a tale of searching for hope in dark times.” And BookPage wrote, “Fast-paced and dramatic, Eleutheria is a love story that plays out against the backdrop of a planet in trouble.” Electric Literature published an excerpt of Eleutheria in their “Recommended Reading Series,” with an introduction from the writer Lydia Conklin.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde had her short story "Bury" featured in PRIVATE LIVES, an anthology of select fiction published by The Missouri Review. "Bury Me" had previously appeared in the "Ultra-Violence" issue of The Missouri Review, as well as in The Pushcart Prize XL, and in Hyde's debut story collection: OF THIS NEW WORLD.

The debut novel by Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde, ELEUTHERIA, was reviewed in a recent print issue of Entertainment Weekly. Of the novel, EW said: "Allegra Hyde has a sharp eye for the culture-war chaos and breezy narcissism of modern American life. And enough hope to hint that the youth might (might!) save us from ourselves."

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde appeared on "It’s Too Early with Gwen Filosa," a podcast recorded live weekdays in Key West, to talk about her forthcoming novel, ELEUTHERIA (Vintage).

ELEUTHERIA has been named a most anticipated title of 2022 by LGBT Reads, Autostraddle, and other venues.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published a short story, Mercy, in the Spring/Summer issue of Crazyhorse. 

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde interviewed author Matt Bell about his new novel, Appleseed, for BOMB Magazine.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde will be a Walter E. Dakin Fellow in fiction at the Sewanee Writers' Conference this summer.

Allegra Hyde, visiting assistant professor of creative writing, presented on the Kenyon Review's panel "Art and The Moment," addressing the right to vote, creative writing, and sustainable futures. 

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde presented at the 2021 AWP Conference and the 14th Annual Clemson Literary Festival in March, reading from her debut short story collection, OF THIS NEW WORLD.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde published an essay, "The Contagious Collective Epiphany'": On Climate Change, Social Change, and the Right to Vote, in The Kenyon Review.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Allegra Hyde sold her debut novel, Eleutheria, and her second story collection, The Last Catastrophe, to Vintage. Eleutheria is a surreal parable about activism and systemic corruption that charts an idealistic woman’s quest for agency among a cult of eco-revolutionaries in the Bahamas intent on saving a world ravaged by climate change. The Last Catastrophe is a collection of speculative short stories on what it means to live in modern America.

Allegra Hyde, visiting assistant professor of creative writing, recently published her short story "Afterglow" in Guernica.