The ‘Cat ...’ that got the cream

It is every would-be author’s dream: snag a publishing contract after writing one little tale. Kristen Roupenian is the lucky writer living that dream.

Roupenian’s short story, ‘Cat Person’, was published in New Yorker magazine some weeks ago. The account of a relationship between 20-year-old college student Margot and 34-year-old ‘older man’ Robert, was built on lines that many in the modern world could relate to: an exchange of flirty text messages builds up a certain idea about a person in one’s mind, but an actual meeting leaves one reeling with disappointment. As a result of this relatability, the story became a viral sensation; the New Yorker called the response “record-breaking.”

‘Cat Person’ was the first story Roupenian had published in the New Yorker and in an interview with the magazine, admitted that she had only committed to writing fiction in the past five years. Roupenian’s debut collection of short stories, You Know You Want This — termed dark, funny and irreverent — has been sold to publishers Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom and is now being auctioned in the United States; 11 bidders for US publishing rights have sent the price tag to above one million dollars.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, December 24th, 2017