#77: Antonia Crane, Writer and Performer

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below.

In this episode, I speak with Antonia Crane, author of SPENT, which Kirkus Reviews called the “revelatory, unapologetic life story of a San Francisco stripper and sex worker.”

Reading both SPENT and a recent article that Crane wrote for Playboy, I was struck by the complexity of Crane’s experience in the sex industry. While she endured plenty of dark and difficult times, Crane also describes finding the work empowering. In the interview, we discussed this tension; we also covered off on unionization and whether Crane would encourage a young girl to follow in her footsteps.

About Antonia Crane: Antonia Crane is an author, writing instructor, and performer in Los Angeles. Her memoir about her mother’s illness and the sex industry SPENT has just been published by Barnacle Books. She’s a columnist for The Rumpus, a contributing editor for The Weeklings, senior editor and founder of The Citron Review, and was a film consultant on Jill Soloway’s Afternoon Delight. As a winner of The Moth, True Stories Told Live, she’ll be competing in the Los Angeles Grand Championship on March 24, 2014. Her writing can be found in The Heroin Chronicles, Soft Skull Press’ Johns, Marks, Tricks & Chickenhawks: Professionals & Their Clients Writing about Each OtherThe New Black, The Rumpus, Dame Magazine, Salon, PANK magazine, Black Clock, The Believer, Frequencies, Slake, and The Los Angeles Review.