A late night, recorded at the time
Roxane Gay’s three-day diary in Vanity Fair, published September 9, 2020, described talking with her wife in bed and then reading into the early morning. The feature promoted her Audre Lorde collection and included retail links.
Who is Roxane Gay?
Roxane Gay is a writer whose books include Bad Feminist, Hunger, An Untamed State, and Difficult Women. Her work extends from books and opinion writing to comics: she has written World of Wakanda for Marvel. She also publishes the newsletter The Audacity.
Reading that crosses between work and pleasure
Asked by W in January 2022 what she did last before bed, Gay described reading books or a long magazine article she had found earlier but had not had time to concentrate on. Some reading was for her book club, including books she was considering for it. She also made time to read for enjoyment; the division between work and pleasure was not always sharp for her. The interview introduced her Joel Gay Fellowship and discussed her newsletter.
Night was also a writing window
In a Chicago Humanities conversation recorded in November 2023, Gay explained that the late evening was also a preferred working period. Asked by Lindsay Hunter whether she still wrote at night, she said she could write at other times when circumstances required it, but liked the hours after the world had quieted down and further email checking was unlikely to produce anything new.
She described writing between nine at night and two in the morning, sometimes later when the next day allowed it. Asked when she woke after a two-o’clock finish, she gave a range of 8:30 to 9:30. That answer describes her recollection, not measured nightly sleep; finishing work and falling asleep are different events.
The event centered on her essay collection Opinions, and the host’s official transcript preserves the exchange. It adds work to the older portraits of bedtime reading: a late night could involve producing words as well as reading them. The conversation does not establish a fixed sequence of writing followed by reading, or make those hours a recommendation.
Two dated views of the evening
The later interview adds a reason to save some reading for night: time to give it attention. Neither account measures whether reading improved her sleep or establishes a nightly sleep duration. They do not show uninterrupted practice between 2020 and 2022 or today. This profile does not recommend her late hours or imply clinical review. Sources checked November 8, 2026.