Tao Lin

About

Tao Lin is an American author and poet well-known for his unique style of approach to short fiction, poems and online essays, which eventually became closely associated with the alt.lit movement. Since making his literary debut in 2006 with the publication of you are a little bit happier than i am (2006), the author has published three novels, two books of poetry and a collection of short stories in print, including Eeeee Eee Eeee (2007), Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009) and Richard Yates (2010).

Career

In 2006 Lin published his first book^[11], a book of poetry titled you are a little bit happier than i am. In 2007 he published two bookstitled Eeeee Eee Eeee and Bed. He followed those up with cognitive-behavioral therapy (2008), Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009), Richard Yates (2010) and Taipei (2013).

Online History

On November 30th, 2007, Vice^[10] published Lin’s semi-autobiographical novella “Shoplifting From American Apparel.” Since then, Lin has continued to work with the magazine as a regular contributor of op-ed articles and essays. On June 2nd, 2010, Thought Catalog^[12] published Lin’s article “Marina Abramović, “The Staring Woman at MoMA." Lin went on to write more than fifty pieces for the site.

Accusation of Sexual Assault

In September 2014, Lin became involved in a controversy after he was accused of sexual assault. On September 25th, 2014, Twitter user alonewiththeTV^[3] (known as Ellen at the time of the relationship with Lin, now a trans-man going by ER) sent out a series of tweets accusing Tao Lin of forcing her to have sex with him and otherwise abusing her during their relationship, which occurred when she was sixteen and Lin was twenty-two.^[2] On October first, Tumblr user saramountain^[4] posted screenshots of the Tweets, within 48 hours the post gained over 9,000 notes.

Lin countered some of the accusations in a Facebook post which has since been made private, which explains that he did have sex with Ellen when she was sixteen and he was twenty-two, but he never forced her and maintained a strong personal and working relationship with him until this year.

On October 2nd, ER tweeted^[5] that Lin was planning to sue him for “character defamation.”

Also on October 2nd, Buzzfeed^[6] published a post titled “Tao Lin Responds To Abuse Allegations On Facebook” which featured a quote from Lin in which he explains:

“In the relationship, in 2006, I was, I know, a shitty person (but I only had consensual sex with someone who, in PA, was not a minor), which I documented in the novel Richard Yates.”

Social Media Presence

As of September 2014, Lins’ Twitter account^[7] has gained over 25,000 followers and his Facebook page^[8] has gained over 5,000 likes. His Instagram account^[9] has gained over 3,000 followers. On July 14th, Flavorwire^[1] named Tao one of “The 35 Writers Who Run the Literary Internet” which explained:

“Lin has used the Internet in ways that people will probably study ten or 20 years down the line (if they aren’t already).”

Search Interest

External References