ABOUT
Todd Kliman is an author, essayist, cultural critic, and food writer.
He has won two James Beard Foundation Awards, including a 2016 MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for his autobiography in seven meals, "Pork Life." His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Harper's, The Oxford American, The Daily Beast and Lucky Peach, and his stories and essays have been widely
anthologized, including five times in the Best Food Writing series.
He is the author of The Wild Vine, a work of narrative non-fiction about a multi-millionaire redneck transsexual on an obsessive quest to restore the legend of a suicidal antebellum doctor, nearly lost to history, who accomplished what Thomas Jefferson tried and could not. The Washington Post called it a "fascinating story, complex and with a haunting finish," while The Richmond Times-Dispatch hailed it as "an outstanding piece of literature."
Kliman taught literature and writing for 10 years at American University and Howard University. At Howard, he was also the editorial director of Chris Rock's magazine of satire, The Illtop Journal, modeled after The Harvard Lampoon.
In addition to writing and teaching, Kliman is also a radio talk show host, occasionally filling in on the Kojo Nnamdi Show in Washington, D.C.
He recently completed a new book, Happiness Is Otherwise, a memoir of his artist father.