Biography
Parsons is the author of "Black Light," a debut story collection that was longlisted for both the 2019 National Book Award and the 2019 Story Prize. "Black Light" was also a finalist for the 2020 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, the 2020 Texas Institute of Letters Best Work of First Fiction Award and the 2020 Oregon Book Award.
Parsons' story “Foxes” was among the trio in The Paris Review that won the 2020 National Magazine Award for Fiction. Parsons received her MA in literary studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and her MFA from Columbia University. She is the recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, Literary Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, PLAYA and the Sustainable Arts Foundation.
Parsons has taught creative writing workshops and courses centered on queer form, child narrators, prose poetry and experimental literature; as the College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Writing Fellow for 2021-2022, she will be teaching intro- and upper-level creative writing.
Parsons lives with her partner and sons in Portland, where she is completing a novel (forthcoming from Knopf) about Texas, motherhood and LSD.