Erica Lies

Erica Lies is an arts journalist and humor writer. Her work has appeared in The Austin Chronicle, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and the New York Times. You can find more of her writing by Googling her, but good luck with that; her last name is a verb.

Austin humor writer Wendi Aarons isn’t afraid of middle school — or middle age

“I’m so embarrassed that I thought I was a failure at age 30,” Austin comedy writer Wendi Aarons told me over Zoom recently, recalling how she’d let go of...

Alex Kiester’s ‘The Truth About Ben and June’ shares truths about early parenthood and creative grief

“A lack of honesty and truth is at the core of what’s broken in their marriage,” Austin author Alex Kiester says of the main characters in her new book,...

Andie Flores Makes Little Ugly Goblin Evil-Doers Beautiful

In an Instagram video from drag performer and comedian Andie Flores (@bidibidibummer), she wears a giant gold star — so giant it covers her almost to the waist, her...

Film review: “Fugitive Dreams” Offers a Tempered Hope in Trying Times

At the opening of “Fugitive Dreams,” the directorial debut of Salvage Vanguard founder, Jason Neulander, a drifter (April Mathis) is on the verge of taking her life. That is,...