Samuel Ashworth on Muck Rack

Samuel Ashworth

As seen in: Elemental, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Yahoo, Eater, Stars and Stripes, Omaha World-Herald, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Longreads and
Covers:  Media, Travel, Food and Dining, Politics, Medicine, Sports, Culture
Doesn't Cover: Finance, Tech
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY, from @SFWP in 2025. NYT-bestselling ghostwriter. Guy @barrelhouse, prof @ GWU. Rep: @AevitasCreative & CAA. Swamp Dad.

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Samuel Ashworth’s Biography

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As a reporter, I specialize in feature-length stories that combine the narrative eye of a novelist and the research of a journalist. I believe in immersing myself in my topic whenever possible, whether that means spending weeks helping to perform autopsies or working as a prep cook in a Michelin-starred kitchen.

I'm a regular contributor to the Washington Post Magazine and Eater.com, and my fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared in Longreads, Hazlitt, NYLON, Barrelhouse, Catapult, the Ti…

Samuel Ashworth’s Journalist Portfolio

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The Slow, Troubling Death of the Autopsy

The Slow, Troubling Death of the Autopsy

Why you should get an autopsy if it's the last thing you do.

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Raising Us Wrecked Her Career But My Mom's Thriving In Her Second Act

Raising Us Wrecked Her Career But My Mom's Thriving In Her Second Act

Cracking into any artistic world, be it theater, literature, film, whatever, requires similar skills to burgl…

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The beautiful art of hassling politicians while wearing animal costumes (Cover story)

The beautiful art of hassling politicians while wearing animal costumes (Cover story)

The Tyrannosaurus rex emerges from the men's room and almost runs smack into Michelle Kwan. It's just another…

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Super Sad True Chef Story

Super Sad True Chef Story

The French brigade system and the ritual of staging has defined what it means to train as a fine dining chef …

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Before Food Took Over Reality TV, There Was NBC's 'The Restaurant'

Before Food Took Over Reality TV, There Was NBC's 'The Restaurant'

At the turn of the century, the television executives of America made a discovery: People would do literally …

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McDreamy, McSteamy, and McConnell

McDreamy, McSteamy, and McConnell

That hope — the hope that maybe some of it isn’t fictional — is what drives people to write stories about Con…

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Articles

Today’s writers are too chummy. They should start brawling again.

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By Samuel Ashworth
| The Washington Post Verified
Today’s writers are too chummy. They should start brawling again. (washingtonpost.com) Today’s writers are too chummy. They should start brawling again. By Samuel Ashworth 2026011414010400 For as long as humans have been making capital-L Literature, people have been writing its obituary. Ten years ago, the author Kelsey McKinney catalogued 30 times in the last century when the novel was prematurely eulogized; since then, rumors of its death have only snowballed.
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The First Book: Sam Ashworth

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By Samuel Ashworth
| The Rumpus
The Author: Sam Ashworth The Book: The Death and Life of August Sweeney (Santa Fe Writer’s Project, 2025) The Elevator Pitch: The rise and fall of legendary Chef August Sweeney, told through his autopsy at the hands of a woman he mysteriously handpicked for the job. *** The Rumpus: Where did the idea of your book come from? Sam Ashworth: In 2012 or so, I was a bartender in Boston. I was sitting in a sister bar with a coworker, and as you do, we started talking about dead bodies.
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Samuel Ashworth’s music playlist for his novel The Death and Life of August Sweeney

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By Samuel Ashworth
| largeheartedboy.com
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Samuel Ashworth’s novelThe Death and Life of August Sweeney is a masterfully told debut.
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