Elissa Bassist is the editor of the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus and author of the tragicomic memoir Hysterical, a semifinalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. As a founding contributor to The Rumpus, she’s written cultural and personal criticism since the website launched in 2009. Her next book, a comedy writing craft book, is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing in 2026. Elissa teaches humor writing at The New School, 92NY and elsewhere, and she is probably her therapist’s favorite.