It’s me, Ottessa Moshfegh, the writer…

You might have heard of a book called “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.” I wrote that, and five other books of fiction. I’m not on social media, but now I’m on Substack because it feels like a zine from the 90s you stay up too late working on, and then you sneak into the office at school to Xerox it for your friends the next day. I never did that because I would never do anything like that. And I would never do anything like this either. That’s why I am doing it. Because I was recently reminded of the end of that Rilke poem where he goes, “You must change your life.” #profundity

Why subscribe?

I’m not doing publicity here—this is just my thing. You’ll get emails about once or twice a week.

Why pay to subscribe?

If you pay the money, you can read everything on here. You’ll get access to all new posts and to the massive archives. I’ll be uploading scans of my notebooks from high school, for example. I’m writing a memoir about high school.

I’ll be writing a column called “Writing Advice” every week in which I’ll answer paid-subscribers’ questions.

And then once a month, you’ll be invited to our Live Chat, in which I answer your questions and we all talk.

Upgrading to a Student Membership includes everything above PLUS a virtual seat at two 3-day writing workshops, Dec 27-29, 2025 and July 4-6, 2026. And some special extras TBD!

“Ottessa Moshfegh’s Substack is better than any MFA experience.” —Ilana Bradford

“I like the free coffee.” —Ed Chin

“Finally a place where I can be myself.” —Britney Spears

Do you have a question?

Is the question for me? Send it to [email protected].

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.