About Alexandra Fallgren
When Alexandra was in middle school she volunteered to be a library helper in order to get the override code so she could check out more than six books to herself at once. A sign of things to come, Alex spent most of her childhood (and adulthood, to be honest) with her nose in a book. When she wasn’t reading, she was making stories come to life in other ways — through theater and music and dancing in her Iowa high school and community organizations.
She got her undergraduate degree in music at Western Michigan University and went on to teach middle school in the Washington D.C. area. But after a few years, she realized that libraries were the secret base for the resistance and moved back to the Midwest to become a teen services librarian. Now she spends her days hanging out with amazing young people while helping them make cool stuff and trying to talk them out of inviting their ex to Prom (seriously, don’t do it).
In spite of gobbling up stories in all forms her entire life, it took a long time for Alexandra to realize she was allowed to write her own. She started off blogging and writing creative non-fiction and performed in storytelling events at OutSpoken and 2nd Story in Chicago.
Before long, she was trying her hand at fiction and once she started, she couldn’t stop. She read every craft book in existence (probably) and abandoned several manuscripts before finally finishing her first novel. She graduated from Hamline University’s MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults in 2021, and was selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Retreat Fellow in the Young Adult cohort in 2023.
Alexandra is represented by Sara Crowe at Sara Crowe Literary.
A Little More About Me
I’m also a Teen Services Librarian
By day, I’m a Teen Services Librarian at a diverse branch of an urban public library.
Our teen room is equipped with video games, table top games, arts and crafts, nail art supplies, a 3D printer, and a vinyl cutter. Teens come and hang out after school, play games, and do homework. It’s a privilege and an honor to work with these incredible young people. It’s all the good parts about being a teacher without the grading or tests.
I’m very lucky to be in a state and a library system committed to maintaining the freedom to read when so many libraries are crumbling under the weight of book bans.
I play the cello
When I was four, I saw Yo-Yo Ma play cello on Sesame Street and declared to my mom “I want to do that!” I started playing cello when I was ten and continued all the way until I graduated high school. I wasn’t great about practicing, but I absolutely loved playing in orchestra (even though it met first hour and I sometimes fell asleep!) I loved the way so many people came together to make something so beautiful.
I stopped playing when I went to college, and after twenty years away from it, I picked the cello back up a few years ago. My very wise MFA advisor recommended that — since writing was a job, now — I needed a new hobby that was just for me.
Now I take lessons and practice most days and I’m playing music I never dreamed I’d be able to play. Not for money and not on socials. Just for me.
14/10 highly recommend.
Chicago is the best city
I have lived in Chicago for eleven years now, and I truly love this city. I love the lake. I love the commitment to green spaces and community programs and parks. I love the way every neighborhood has its own personality. I love having a world class symphony and opera house and ballet and Broadway shows just a short train ride away.
Most of all, I love Chicago in the summer, when every restaurant has patio seating and there’s more street festivals and outdoor concerts than one person could ever go to.
(A tip though? No one who lives here calls it The L. Like. Literally zero people.)