The work of acclaimed writer and professor of English Dana Spiotta is taking center stage this December and January. The bestselling author wrote the cover story for December’s issue of Vogue, and her novel, “Eat the Document,” has been adapted into an opera, which will premiere in January in New York City.
Dana Spiotta
The December Vogue is a special issue guest-edited by fashion icon Marc Jacobs. Spiotta’s cover story is a long profile of Kaia Gerber, who in addition to being a well-known model and up-and-coming actress, now has a large following for her online book club, Library Science. Spiotta’s article explores Gerber’s experience growing up in the fashion world and the challenges of how the world perceives her vs. how she perceives herself.
Along with penning the Vogue cover story, Spiotta’s book “Eat the Document,” is the inspiration for an alternative opera, which will take to the stage Jan. 9-17 as part of the 2025 PROTOTYPE Festival in New York. The prestigious festival is a co-production of Beth Morrison Presents and HERE, “two trailblazers in the creation and presentation of contemporary, multi-disciplinary opera-theatre and music-theatre works.”
“Eat the Document” follows the intertwined lives of two anti-war activists who come together during the Vietnam era. After a protest they orchestrate goes tragically wrong, they are forced into hiding, adopting new identities to escape their past. The story alternates between the 1970s and the 1990s, delving into themes of identity, memory and the impact of political activism. Spiotta’s “Eat the Document” was a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the American Academy’s Rosenthal Foundation Award in 2007.
The new opera has been in development since 2020 by John Glover (composer), Kelley Rourke (librettist), Kristin Marting (director) and Mila Henry (music director). Learn more about the premiere of “Eat the Document.”
A faculty member in the Department of English’s Creative Writing Program since 2009, Spiotta is one of the University’s leading fiction writers. She is the author of five novels. Alongside “Eat the Document,” she has written “Wayward,” which was named a best book of 2021 by Vogue and The New York Times, “Innocents and Others,” winner of the St. Francis College Literary Prize and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, “Stone Arabia,” a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and “Lightning Field,” which was a New York Times Notable Book. Spiotta is currently teaching workshop classes in the undergraduate and graduate Creative Writing Program.
