Philly Book Launch: FAT SWIM by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Join H&H Books and Philly-based author Emma Copley Eisenberg at the Philadelphia Ethical Society for a night of literature, performance art, and community, as we celebrate the launch of Emma’s newest work of fiction, .

Sonalee Rashatwar (The Fat Sex Therapist) will emcee, and new work by sculpture artist Rose Luardo (“Boob Garden,” “Crab Couch”) will be on view for one night only. Rashatwar and Danny Maloney (Philly Queer Book Club) will join Emma for a talkback following a staged reading from the book. H&H Books will have books for sale at the event, as well as distribute the copies of Fat Swim purchased in tandem with event tickets.

Food and drink will be for sale---more details to come!

All profits will benefit Blue Stoop.

Tickets are required to attend this event. For more information about tickets, visit the FAQ section.

We are committed to making this event as accessible as possible. For more information about accessibility, visit the FAQ section.

is an electrifying collection of linked stories following a cast of characters navigating bodies, queerness, power, and sex—with radical results—from the nationally bestselling author of the novel . Housemates was named a best book of 2024 by The Boston Globe, People Magazine, NBC, Kirkus Reviews, Electric Literature, Them.Us, Autostraddle, and more.

With a brash and stylish voice that implicates and confronts the reader, Fat Swim wades into the contradictions, joys, and violence of a modern world shaped by looking and watching, examining how our hungers can both hijack and crack open our lives.

In the title story, a young girl looks to a group of fat women at her local Philly pool to teach her about her changing body. In “Swiffer Girl,” a woman agrees to try for a baby with her partner, only to suddenly find herself haunted by the viral sex video that made the rounds during high school—a video indelibly tied to her own sense of self.

In other stories, an obscure fat makeup vlogger who lives in the woods of Central Pennsylvania strikes up a strange friendship with a middle schooler that forces her to reflect on her past life at a toxic beauty startup, a boomer retiree tries to understand her nonbinary child’s gender and polyamory, and a trans librarian takes a job as assistant to a famous science fiction writer only to find himself screening hookups on his octogenarian employer’s behalf.

For better or for worse, these stories counsel, none of us can leave our bodies behind: they remind us what it is to be alive.

“These interconnected stories blitzed my brain and gut. Prepare to be shaken.”—Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division and Heavy

Emma Copley Eisenberg is the nationally bestselling author of the novel Housemates, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Fiction and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize, as well as the nonfiction book The Third Rainbow Girl, a New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice. She’s received fellowships and residencies from Yaddo, Bread Loaf, Tin House, The Millay Colony and others. Her fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared in Granta, The Paris Review, The Believer, Esquire, The New Republic, The Cut, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and others. She lives in Philadelphia, where she co-founded Blue Stoop, a community hub for the literary arts and writes the Substack newsletter Frump Feelings about books, culture, body liberation, and Philly literary community. Her newest book of fiction, Fat Swim, publishes April 28, 2026.

Sonalee Rashatwar (he-they) LCSW MEd is an award-winning clinical social worker, sex therapist, adjunct lecturer, and grassroots organizer. Based in Philly (licensed in PA), they are a superfat queer bisexual non-binary therapist and co-owner of Radical Therapy Center, specialized in treating sexual trauma, diet trauma, racial or immigrant trauma, and South Asian family abuse, while offering fat positive sexual healthcare.

Danny Maloney believes in the transformative power of spaces centered on community building, the arts, and discussion. A former high school English teacher, he currently works as a program manager for an undergraduate honors program. He serves on the board of Philly AIDS Thrift and organizes the Philly Queer Book Club at Giovanni’s Room, the oldest queer bookstore in the United States. He also edits for Primer, a new literary and arts magazine.

In May 2018, a critical mass of Philadelphia writers came together to create a hub for literary culture. Today, Blue Stoop offers high quality classes and inspiring events led by local writers and creatives.

Blue Stoop envisions a radically inclusive literary community where Philadelphia readers and writers are thriving and supported. Blue Stoop nurtures an inclusive literary community by creating pathways to access writing education, inspiration, and professional support, and celebrating Philadelphia’s rich writing tradition.

Blue Stoop is a fiscally sponsored project of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia, 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

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