Elise Lasko graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Poetry before earning her Nonfiction MFA from Bennington in 2020. Her literary work ranges from memoir essays to poetry and has appeared in NATIVE, Asheville Made, Triangle House Review, Cutleaf Journal, and most recently, Narrative Magazine’s Story of the Week. Elise’s writing reckons with grief’s relationship to intimacy, physical pain, addiction, and recovery.
“Elise is brilliant on the often hackneyed subject of childhood. By using a wave of physical details—the pain of wearing toe shoes as a young ballerina, the way it actually feels to get a tattoo, and of course, the inimitable sensation of that first, fatal drink—she creates without prescribing. Her great strength as a writer is this ability to evoke specific physical states—to take the reader into the scene and describe it so well that the reader feels it. In this story of grief, loss and recovery, this talent shines.” — Susan Cheever
“Elise’s essays are about grief, but, beneath that, they are about finding meaningful connections in other people who understand grief and hardship the way the narrator understands it. The reader identifies with her strengths, but especially her weaknesses, as they are presented in a stoic, meditative manner. She resists melodrama but is not immune to tenderness. This really helps readers connect to her, and, more importantly, trust her.” — Chelsea Hodson
“Elise’s writing has an amazing energy and flow, which seems to be the natural outgrowth of the strength of the voice of the speaker, who is in command of her emotions and memories, who delivers in a sure and solid way, graceful yet vulnerable. The speaker is extremely likable, which makes for a very engaged reading experience. This engagement is heightened by the speaker’s ability to focus on minute details and then send those details expanding in their own emotional aftermaths. Her memoir is brave and beautiful, touching and heartbreaking.” — Jenny Boully
“Elise has written powerfully about the loss of her father in 9/11. She has delved deeply into many aspects of the tragedy: the way her mother handled the job of explaining to her daughter what had happened; the significance of Elise’s having been without her father longer than she knew him; the struggle to remember her father and to learn about him in his absence; memories of her relationship with him; and the effects of the tragedy on her mental health. I think Elise could write a book that would potentially catch on with the public: the memoirs of a child of 9/11.” — Clifford Thompson
“Elise’s narrator would be easy to judge if she were interested in having the reader pass judgment on her. But since she doesn’t, we can see her ‘in the round’ and appreciate the things she has found beautiful in her life.” — Benjamin Anastas