Alexander Chee is an essayist and the author of the novel Edinburgh and the forthcoming The Queen of the Night. Chee was the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award in 2003.

Why you should read him: Alexander Chee's work thoughtfully touches upon sexuality, race, and identity, but beyond that, his writing strives to capture the universal experience of what it means to be human, and all the flawed beauty that it entails.