Ellis Avery was born on October 25, 1972. She received a bachelor's degree in performance studies from Bryn Mawr College and an MFA in writing from Goddard College. Before moving to New York City, she spent several years in San Francisco working for queer youth organizations. Her first book, The Smoke Week, was her personal account of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. Her novels included The Last Nude and The Teahouse Fire. Her other works included a memoir entitled The Family Tooth and a collection of poetry entitled Broken Rooms. She received several awards including the American Library Association Stonewall Award for Fiction, the Golden Crown Literary Society, and the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. She taught fiction writing at Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. She died on February 15, 2019 at the age of 46.
030