Sofia (Sof, which is the name they generally prefer as of late; pronouns are they/them) Sears is a writer from Los Angeles. They hold a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where they studied English and Gender Studies, and graduated with Honors distinctions in both of their majors, completing 2 honors theses (digital humanities/experimental critical-creative work on the underrated narratological genius of Shirley Jackson’s novel Hangsaman) that both won their respective departmental thesis awards. They worked for 2+ years as an Editorial Assistant for Jacket2 and general staff member of the (wonderful) Kelly Writers House. Their work spans genres (creative nonfiction, fiction, horror, dramatic writing, poetry) and has been published widely since they were a teenager (rip RookieMag <3), featured in publications such as Diagram, Waxwing, The Sonora Review, The LA Times, Driftwood Press, Rookie, and numerous others. Their original (very experimental, very weird) 1-act play about Los Angeles/Chicana girlhood/murdered women, entitled I Know the End after the (perfect) Phoebe Bridgers song, recently received a workshop production in Philly with generous funding and sponsorship from the Sachs Art Grant, the Rotunda, and the GSWS Department at UPenn, and also won a playwriting award from Penn. Their work has received numerous accolades including the Sonora Review Nonfiction Prize and several awards from the Penn Creative Writing Department. They primarily write about/around: girlhood(s), horror, monstrosity and monster theory, queer stuff, sex and desire, literature, gender unease and trauma—fun stuff!
They love Ethel Cain, boygenius, Clarice Lispector, cooking, overusing shallots, mycelial networks, Ana Mendieta, and referencing Succession in any/every situation. They’ve created and hosted audio/podcast projects, but their current + main ongoing project/experiment/monster-creature-thing is Heartmouth, their Substack that features personal essays, cultural criticism, fiction, and assorted ramblings, which you can access here—they also very much appreciate any and all subscribers, but paid subscriptions are especially nice if you’d like to support a queer grad student and have access to more weird writing…for quite a low price, fyi. Sof was also previously a staff contributor at Adolescent.net and Books Editor of Lithium Magazine.
They can be contacted for work, freelance writing, or just to say…yo (quote by Kendall Roy) at searssofia@gmail.com. You can follow them on Instagram here and on Twitter here. (And if you’re looking to redistribute some $$ somewhere for pride month!! then here, here, and here are 3 of their favorite queer orgs! if you give $100 or above to any of these/send them a screenshot of your donation, you get free access to paid subscriber content!)