Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Associate Professor, School of Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies
Benoit Denizet-Lewis is a magazine writer and New York Times bestselling author. He is a longtime contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he began in 2002 and has written cover stories and features about identity, LGBT life, mental health, politics, and sports. His work has been turned into a feature film and received award and fellowship support from New America, the National Endowment for the Humanities, MacDowell, and the Alicia Patterson Foundation.
Benoit is the author of four books, including the instant New York Times bestseller Travels With Casey and, most recently, You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation.
The former editor-in-chief of the Boston-based Good Men Project, Benoit’s work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Town & Country, Sports Illustrated, The Advocate, and Slate. He has spoken about his life and work on many television and radio programs, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper 360, and NPR’s Here & Now.
At Emerson, Benoit co-directs the Publishing Series. He received Emerson’s Huret Faculty Excellence Award in 2021.
Courses
- Magazine Media Essentials
- Longform Narrative: Telling (True) Stories
- Your Magazine
- Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies
Creative Work
- 2026, “Does Your Name Represent Who You Really Are?” excerpt from You’ve Changed: The Promise & Price of Self-Transformation in The Observer (UK).
- 2026, “Can You Really, Truly, Fundamentally Change?” excerpt from You’ve Changed: The Promise & Price of Self-Transformation in Town & Country
- 2026, “Change Doesn’t Happen the Way You Think,” essay in The New York Times
- 2026, “How Much Can We Really Control Who We Become?” essay in Boston Globe Magazine
- 2019, “For Gay Conservatives, the Trump Era Is the Best and Worst of Times,” feature in The New York Times Magazine
- 2017, “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering from Severe Anxiety?” cover story, The New York Times Magazine
- 2016, “How Do You Change Voters’ Minds? Have a Conversation,” feature in The New York Times Magazine
