Emma Copley Eisenberg Is Tired of the Plot Police

I first encountered Emma Copley Eisenberg’s work through this wonderful essay from EL contributor Elizabeth Endicott. In it, Endicott chronicles her experience delving into Eisenberg’s Housemates as a plus-size reader; she moves from apprehension to relief to recognition, highlighting Eisenberg’s ability to render fatness without the shadow of authorial judgment. Deeply imagined and embodied, Eisenberg’s work captures a nuanced reality; she doesn’t shy away from the systemic biases and discrimination that her protagonist Leah faces, but at its core, Housemates is also a love story; she reminds us that joy and connection are universal, fundamentally human experiences, and that they’re made possible by the very complex bodies we occupy. 

Eisenberg’s newest story collection, Fat Swim, carries forth this ethos across 10 luminous...