Lee Upton

Lee Upton (Easton, PA) is a highly awarded writer. Her first novel, Tabitha, Get Up, is a current semi-finalist for the 2026 Thurber Prize in American Humor. Her second novel, Wrongful (May 2025), is a literary mystery in which writers behave very badly. In June 2026, her novel The Withers is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing. Tabitha, Stay Up, a sequel to her first novel, is forthcoming from Sagging Meniscus Press in September of 2026. Her poetry has appeared in the New Yorker, Poetry, Agni, and in many other magazines. Her awards include the Pushcart Prize, the Saturnalia Books Prize,
and the BOA Short Fiction Award.

AN INTERVIEW WITH LEE UPTON by Alice M

March 23, 2026 · Fiction

Alice M: As I read The Withers I was struck by its genre. Even before the narrative mentioned Rebecca, I thought, ‘This is Lady’s Companion Gothic.’ I tumble thoughts in the back of my head as I read books, and at first I defined ‘Lady’s Companion Gothic’ to myself as a perversion of what used to be quite a common practice. But that’s not exactly right, is it? The practice itself seems like a perversion, making it an inherently gothic idea. Even in cases where the employer’s intent is totally benign, the role of lady’s companion is a perversion of…

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