Robin McLean

Robin McLean was a lawyer and then a potter in the woods of Alaska before turning to writing. She receiving her MFA in fiction at UMass Amherst. Her first short fiction collection Reptile House won the BOA Fiction Prize, was twice a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Prize and was named a best book of 2015 in Paris Review. Her stories have appeared widely. She’s taught writing for a decade, at Clark University as well as at community literary centers across the US and world.

Her debut novel Pity the Beast (2021, And Other Stories) was noted as a best book of fiction of 2021 in such outlets as The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, White Review. It was long-listed for the Reading the West Prize and was a recommended paperback in the NYTimes.

Her second story collection, Get'em Young, Treat'em Tough, Tell'em Nothing (2022, And Other Stories) was an Editors' Choice in the NYTimes.

A figure skater first—having learned to skate and walk at the same time—McLean believes that crashing on ice prepared her for writing fiction. Besides writing, her careers and interests have been diverse: pushcart hotdog sales, lawyer and mediator, potter and tile maker, political activist, union organizer, sculptor, haunted corn maze manager as well as zombie trainer (yes). She lives in the high desert West.

Artist Blog Posts
Pro Tips
What's a Generative Workshop Anyway?
For most of my writing life, I’ve participated in critique-based workshops. I still do. They go like this: You write a story. A week before your workshop date, you send .docs of your story to your fellow writers in the class. (Back in olden times, you prayed your ink was full.)
Robin McLean
Aug. 5
Loft Spotlights
Video Interview: Teaching Artist Robin McLean
Robin McLean was a lawyer and then a potter before receiving her MFA at UMass Amherst in Massachusetts. Her first short story collection Reptile House won the BOA Fiction Prize, was twice a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Prize, and was named a best book of 2015 in Paris Review.
Robin McLean
Jul. 28