Picture an American poet and storyteller who spins humor, heart, and raw honesty into literary gold—meet Patricia Lockwood! With a knack for blending the absurd with the profound, Lockwood has carved a unique space in modern literature. From her viral prose poem 'Rape Joke' to her award-winning memoir Priestdaddy, her work dances between poetry, prose, and social commentary, inviting readers to laugh, wince, and think.
Born on April 27, 1982, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lockwood’s voice is as bold as it is playful, shaped by an unconventional upbringing and a razor-sharp wit. Whether she’s dissecting internet culture or her family’s quirks, her writing feels like a conversation with a brilliant, slightly eccentric friend.
The Making of Patricia Lockwood
Lockwood grew up in a Catholic rectory in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio, thanks to her father, Greg Lockwood, a naval seaman turned married Catholic priest after a spiritual awakening inspired by watching The Exorcist 70 times. This quirky, religious household, complete with a gun-toting, guitar-strumming dad, fueled her storytelling. She skipped college, married at 21 to journalist Jason Kendall, and began writing from her 'desk-bed,' honing her craft in magazines like The New Yorker and Poetry. Her early Twitter presence, marked by surreal 'sexts' and sharp humor, earned her the title 'poet laureate of Twitter,' setting the stage for her literary rise.
Patricia Lockwood’s Unforgettable Stories
Lockwood’s debut poetry collection, Balloon Pop Outlaw Black (2012), burst onto the indie scene with 'savage intelligence,' as praised by the Chicago Tribune. Its Lisa Hanawalt-designed cover and bold verses made it a bestseller among poetry fans. Her follow-up, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals (2014), a New York Times Notable Book, tackled gender, politics, and culture with biting wit, earning accolades for its 21st-century relevance.
Her 2017 memoir, Priestdaddy, is a hilarious yet tender recounting of moving back in with her parents as an adult. It won the Thurber Prize for American Humor and was named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2017. Lockwood’s debut novel, No One Is Talking About This (2021), a Booker Prize finalist and Dylan Thomas Prize winner, explores internet culture and personal loss, blending fragmented prose with deep emotion. Her viral 2013 poem 'Rape Joke,' published by The Awl, transformed a personal trauma into a powerful commentary on rape culture, reawakening interest in poetry for a generation.
Lockwood’s style is a kaleidoscope of humor, surrealism, and raw honesty. She shifts effortlessly between genres, crafting prose that feels poetic and poetry that reads like a story. Her work captures the chaos of modern life—think Twitter scrolls and family dysfunction—with a voice that’s both accessible and avant-garde.
Why Patricia Lockwood Matters
Lockwood’s impact lies in her ability to make the internet, trauma, and family feel universal yet deeply personal. As Kirkus Reviews noted, she’s 'our guide to moving beyond thinking of the internet as a thing apart from real lives and real art.' Her genre-blending approach has inspired a new wave of writers to experiment with form and voice. As a contributing editor for the London Review of Books since 2019, her essays on authors like Virginia Woolf and David Foster Wallace showcase her as a cultural critic with a rare, wizardly touch, as The New Yorker put it. In 2022, she received the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award for her experimental contributions, cementing her as a literary trailblazer.
- Birth Date: April 27, 1982
- Key Works: Priestdaddy, No One Is Talking About This, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals
- Awards: Thurber Prize (2018), Dylan Thomas Prize (2021), Morton Dauwen Zabel Award (2022)
- Fun Fact: She lives in Savannah, Georgia, with her husband and three cats, Miette, Fenriz, and Gilly.
Snag Priestdaddy or No One Is Talking About This and dive into Patricia Lockwood’s wild, witty world of poetry and prose!