Miranda July is an American author and filmmaker known for blending intimacy, surrealism, and humour in her fiction. She is the author of No One Belongs Here More Than You (2007), It Chooses You (2011), The First Bad Man (2015), and All Fours (2024). Her debut collection won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and her most recent novel was shortlisted for both the National Book Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger in Barre, Vermont, in 1974, she was raised in Berkeley, California. Her parents, Lindy Hough and Richard Grossinger, are both writers and founders of North Atlantic Books. July has said her home life was “DIY in every sense,” and her family’s openness to art shaped her early work. She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, but left during her second year to pursue writing and performance in Portland, Oregon.
In the early 1990s, July was part of the riot grrrl movement and started staging performances in local punk clubs. She founded Joanie4Jackie, a video chain-letter project that connected women filmmakers, describing it as her “film school.” These projects introduced themes that would appear later in her prose: loneliness, communication, and the desire to connect.
July’s literary career began with short fiction. Her story The Boy from Lam Kien appeared in 2005, followed by Something That Needs Nothing in The New Yorker in 2006. The following year, her first collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You, was published by Scribner. It received critical praise for its originality and emotional clarity, with Kirkus Reviews calling it “a smart, original collection.”
The Guardian described the stories as “blisteringly good,” and the book went on to sell over 200,000 copies.
Her second book, It Chooses You (2011), grew out of interviews she conducted with Los Angeles residents while developing her film The Future. July said the work allowed her to “see the ordinary as sacred.” The book combined nonfiction vignettes and photographs by Brigitte Sire, exploring everyday lives with quiet empathy.
Her first novel, The First Bad Man (2015), focused on a middle-aged woman navigating obsession and intimacy. The New York Times Book Review called it “warm” and “painfully alive.” Her second novel, All Fours (2024), follows a woman’s sexual awakening during midlife and was recognised for its candid portrayal of desire and self-reinvention.
Throughout her career, July’s writing has examined the fragile connections between people. She has stated that she writes to “bring people together, even if just for a page.” She continues to explore themes such as awkwardness, tenderness, and the quest for meaning in ordinary moments.
Miranda July lives in Los Angeles.
Photo credit: X @Miranda_July
