Creative Reverberations

Creative Reverberations

CR 054: Hannah Pittard: ‘I’m interested in pushing myself to do new and uncomfortable things as a writer’

The author discusses the messy life events that led to her deliciously entertaining new novel, “If You Love It, Let It Kill You.”

Sandra Ebejer's avatar
Sandra Ebejer
Jul 18, 2025
∙ Paid
3
3
1
Share
A woman sits on the floor, holding her head in her hand and smiling
Hannah Pittard, photo by Anya Lorenzo

As of this writing, Hannah Pittard’s marriage to her ex-husband, Andrew Ewell, has been sliced, diced, dissected, and scrutinized in New York Magazine, The New York Times, a literary short story, a personal essay, a memoir (kind of), and multiple works of autofiction.

If somehow you haven’t yet heard the saga, here’s a brief recap: In 2016, Pittard, an author, discovered that Ewell, also an author, had had an affair with her good friend, Anna Shearer, who was, you guessed it, an author. Pittard and Ewell divorced, as did Shearer and her husband, poet Ryan Fox, and soon Ewell and Shearer were married. In 2017, Pittard published a personal essay, “Scenes from a Marriage,” about Ewell’s infidelity. In 2023 she further explored the dissolution of her marriage in We Are Too Many, which was billed as “a memoir [kind of].” Then, in 2024, Ewell published Set for Life, a satirical novel that is billed as fiction but clearly mirrors his real-life experiences …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Creative Reverberations to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Sandra Ebejer
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture