Bio

Alicia Eler (they/she) is a writer, arts journalist and culture critic. She is the author of The Selfie Generation: How Our Self-Images are Changing Our Notions of Privacy, Property, Sex, Consent and Culture. Chicago Tribune called the book “fascinating, provocative, entertaining and enlightening,” and the New York Times noted that “Eler’s book alights on the source of the selfie’s power . . . Perhaps our much-fussed-over narcissism is not a flaw but a survival tactic.” The Washington Post and New York Magazine named Alicia “the selfie expert.” Alicia is an early digital adopter, and was one of the first writers to write extensively about the selfie in a pre-Snapchat, pre-TikTok era. The book received international praise from the BBC to the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Since 2017, Alicia has worked as the Visual Art Reporter/Critic at the Minnesota Star Tribune, covering the Twin Cities’ vibrant art scene and greater Minnesota visual culture. She is part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for the breaking news reporting of George Floyd’s killing.

Alicia is a former Staff Reporter for Hyperallergic. Alicia’s work has been published in The Guardian, New York Magazine, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, The Markaz Review and more. Her fiction, which has appeared in Queen Mobs Teahouse and Projecttile Lit, investigates sexuality, second-generation immigrant experiences, and the Turkish diaspora. Alicia grew up in Chicago and is currently based in Minneapolis.

Alicia’s collaborative essay “How to Win Tinder” for The New Inquiry became a key source for studies of dating app culture, quoted in Le Monde, GQ Spain, and the New Yorker. She was featured in GO Magazine’s “100 Women We Love: Class of 2019.” The Daily Dot named her one of the 15 funniest ladies on Twitter, and the Chicago Sun-Times called her an emerging writer to know.

Alicia also does standup comedy under the name Alicia Kismet. The Sahan Journal named one of 5 diverse comedians to watch, and Minnesota Comedy wrote a feature story about Alicia’s journey as a queer, non-binary, Turkish comedian. Alicia also hosts and co-produces a unique art-comedy show called Laugh & Draw, where artists figure draw live standup comedians as they tell jokes and hold poses. Minnesota Comedy wrote about that, too! To learn more about Alicia’s comedy journey, which began in Chicago and has traveled with her to L.A. and now Minneapolis, go to aliciakismetcomedy.com.

Alicia is currently based in Minneapolis. Contact her at alicia [dot] eler [at] gmail [dot] com. Find her on Twitter (@aliciaeler) and Instagram (@aliciakismeteler).