Anelise Chen

Anelise Chen
Anelise Chen (2017)
Born
Taipei, Taiwan
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
New York University (MFA)
OccupationAuthor
Writing career
Notable worksSo Many Olympic Exertions (2017)
Clam Down: A Metamorphosis (2025)
Notable awards5 Under 35 Honoree

Anelise Chen is a Taiwanese-born American author of fiction and nonfiction. She was named a "5 under 35" Honoree by the National Book Foundation in 2019.

Her first novel, So Many Olympic Exertions, was published in 2017 by Kaya Press and was named one of the best books of the year by Brooklyn Rail.

Early life and education

Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan. At a young age, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, California and she grew up in Temple City. She holds degrees from UC Berkeley (B.A. English) and New York University (M.F.A. Fiction).

She teaches writing at Columbia University and lives in New York City.

Writing career

Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, National Public Radio, BOMB Magazine, The New Republic, Vice, and The Village Voice. She writes a column on mollusks for Paris Review.

Her first book, So Many Olympic Exertions, is an experimental novel that blends elements of self-help, memoir, and sports writing. Publishers Weekly characterized the book as "Formally unique and inventive, this novel fluctuates in tone, reading at some times like an authentic and unfiltered private journal and at others like a deeply researched academic essay." It was a finalist for the 2018 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

Her second book, Clam Down: A Metamorphosis, published by Random House in 2025, is a divorce memoir told from the perspective of a clam. Named one of "The 10 best books of 2025" by the Chicago Tribune. Kirkus Reviews described it as "A dreamlike, albeit carefully studied, tale exploring introversion, hardening one’s exterior as a means of self-protection and reliance... A poignant and wholly original memoir of liberation through confinement."

Clam Down was a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography.

Chen has received residencies and fellowships from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Blue Mountain Center, Banff Centre, the Wurlitzer Foundation, and the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany.

Bibliography

Novels

  • Chen, Anelise (2017). So Many Olympic Exertions. Kaya Press. ISBN 978-1-885030-35-1.

Memoirs

References

  1. 1 2 "Anelise Chen". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  2. ↑ "The Rail's Best Books of 2017". The Brooklyn Rail. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Autofiction and the Asian Diaspora: A Q-and-A with Anelise Chen". Los Angeles Review of Books. 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  4. 1 2 "Professor Anelise Chen's New Book 'Clam Down' Out in June | School of the Arts". arts.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  5. ↑ "Anelise Chen, Author at The Paris Review". The Paris Review. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "So Many Olympic Exertions". nationalbook.org. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  7. ↑ "So Many Olympic Exertions by Anelise Chen". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  8. ↑ "2018 VCU English department announces Cabell First Novelist finalists". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Lit, Intern Electric (2025-06-05). "This Divorce Memoir Is Told from the Perspective of a Clam". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  10. ↑ "BOMB Magazine | Anelise Chen by Karen Gu". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  11. ↑ "The 10 best books of 2025". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Clam Down: A Metamorphosis". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  13. ↑ "2026 Pulitzer Prizes". pulitzer.org.Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  14. ↑ "Finalist: Clam Down: A Metamorphosis, by Anelise Chen". pulitzer.org. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Anelise Chen's So Many Olympic Exertions | The Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org. 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  16. ↑ Leu, Chelsea (2025-05-31). "A Memoir of Divorce and Xenophobia, Narrated by a Clam". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  17. ↑ "Clam Down: A Metamorphosis by Anelise Chen". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2025-06-22.