Even though I had not done it before, it was something that I conceivably could do. And so because I knew that I knew how to write, and I knew how to report, and that importantly, I was already part of the industry, writing a book seemed possible. I’d been a journalist before I identified as asexual. And people just weren’t able to access that.Īnd, on the other hand, I’d always been a journalist. I think there’s so much to offer asexuality really makes you see the world, I think, in a new way. And so I thought that so many people could really benefit from the ace lens, whether they are actually ace or not.

But it felt like every time we would talk about it, I would first have to do the TED talk, right? You know, I’d have to be like “I’m asexual, but that doesn’t mean I’m celibate, but some people are, and some people don’t want relationships”, and it just felt like that was a huge barrier in us having these conversations, because you need so much time just setting up the basics. I was wanting to be having these deep conversations about the topics we talk about in the book-like how asexuality relates to gender, or politics, or race, or what it reaches us about consent or relationships-and I think these are conversations that were interesting for my friends who were allo. But I’m curious about once you got to that point, what then led you to think “Oh, I want to write a book about this”?Īs I was discovering and grappling with my asexuality, I felt so supported by the ace community, but I felt like I couldn’t translate what I was learning from the ace community to my allo friends. Let’s start at the beginning: over the course of the book you actually tell the reader a lot about your sort of process that led you to identifying with asexuality. Here’s what she had to say in response to our questions: She is a member of the ace community and has spoken about asexuality at academic conferences and events including the 2019 NYC World Pride Ace & Aro Conference. Her reporting and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Guardian, Paris Review, Electric Literature, Catapult, and elsewhere. We were fortunate this week to have the pleasure of speaking to Angela Chen ( ) about her upcoming book, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, which comes out September 15th.Īngela Chen is a journalist and writer in New York City. This interview was co-authored with Maddy.

Angela chen book