David Sedaris

David Sedaris is one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. He is a master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers.

 

Beloved for his personal essays and short stories, David Sedaris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, Calypso, and Happy-Go-Lucky. The audio version of Happy-Go-Lucky, written and narrated by Sedaris, won the 2023 Audie Award. His book The Best of Me, collects 42 previously published stories and essays. Sedaris also wrote Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, a collection of fables with illustrations by Ian Falconer. His next book of essays will be The Land and Its People (Back Bay Books, May 26, 2026).

 

Sedaris writes regularly for The New Yorker and his essays have been included in “The Best American Essays.” The two volumes of his diaries, Theft By Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) and A Carnival of Snackery, Diaries (2003-2020) were New York Times bestsellers. An art book of Sedaris’s diary covers, David Sedaris Diaries: A Visual Compendium, was edited by Jeffrey Jenkins. He is the editor of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. His children's book, Pretty Ugly, illustrated by Ian Falconer, received a ‘star’ review from Kirkus. His new children's book The Selfish Sister (Astra/TOON Books, March 17, 2026) with illustrations by Bob Staake also received a ‘star’ review from Kirkus.

 

Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written half-a-dozen plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service. 

 

Sedaris has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. His audio recordings include “David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure” and “David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall.” A feature film adaptation of his story C.O.G. was released after a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (2013). Since 2011 his show Meet David Sedaris has been on BBC Radio 4. In 2026 Meet David Sedaris won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Stand Up or Sketch Comedy. In 2019 David Sedaris became a regular contributor to CBS Sunday Morning, and his Masterclass, David Sedaris Teaches Storytelling and Humor, was released.

 

There are over 16 million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 32 languages. He has been awarded the Terry Southern Prize for Humor, Thurber Prize for American Humor, Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor, Time 2001 Humorist of the Year Award, as well as the Medal for Spoken Language from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In March 2019 he was elected as a member into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2020 the New York Public Library voted Me Talk Pretty One Day one of the 125 most important books of the last 125 years. In 2025 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Chichester.