Elizabeth A. Harris
Elizabeth Allen Harris is an American Journalist and reporter for New York Times">New York (state)">New York Times. Harris covers the publishing industry for The New York Times within their Books Desk and is the author of a novel, How to Sleep at Night.
Early life
Harris grew up in New York City, New York. After high school, Harris attended Oberlin College: a small, private, college located in Oberlin, Ohio. Harris graduated and obtained a Bachelors of Arts degree in English in 2005. In 2011, Harris married Kelly Kleinert.Career
Journalism
Journalism career: 2009—2019
After Harris graduated from college, she joined The New York Times in 2009 at their The [New York Times Building|New York City office] as a Beat Reporter, reporting on education, business, politics, and art.After starting at The New York Times, Harris joined as a reporter for the Metro Desk and an appraisal columnist. During Harris's time at the Metro Desk and as an Appraisal Columnist she reported on tax breaks for multi-million dollar condos in New York City, gentrification, and how garbage disposals impact real estate. In 2011 Harris's title was an Intermediate Reporter at The New York Times. As an Intermediate Reporter, in 2011, Harris wrote The New York Times's article reporting on the death of Osama Bin Laden.
In 2013, Harris was added as a staffer to The New York Times Business Desk; during her time working in the Business Desk she worked on a range of topics including deals and holiday sales.
After working in the Business Desk, Harris was brought into the Culture Desk at The New York Times. During her time working at the Culture Desk, she worked on a variety of topics, including hidden money in the Museum Industry, The [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]' influence in the movie industry, and the high profile R. Kelly case throughout 2019.
In 2019, Harris reported on the LDS Motion Picture Studios and The [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]' influence in the Utah film industry in a news story titled, "Lights. Camera. Prayer. A Mini-Hollywood Grows in Utah.". Afterwards in 2019, Harris was invited onto The New York Times news podcast, The Daily, which was rated the No. 1 podcast every month in 2019 and the most downloaded show on Apple podcasts in 2018. As a guest during the podcast episode, "Confronting a Childhood Abuser", Harris reported on her experience interviewing whistleblowers of the situation.
Harris also reported on the high profile R. Kelly case in 2019, where R. Kelly was arrested for both Federal child pornography charges and obstruction charges in Chicago. Harris acted as a key reporter for breaking the news of R. Kelly's 10 counts of sexual abuse in The New York Times article, "R. Kelly Charged With 10 Counts of Sexual Abuse in Chicago". Harris also reported on Kelly's use of a legal tool called, a Non-disclosure agreement, as well as other high profile individuals such as Harvey Weinstein and Bill O'Reilly during their accusations of sexual abuse or harassment. Harris also spoke about the case on WNYC, New York City's Public Radio Station.
Books Desk: 2020–present
In 2020, Harris was brought in to the Books Desk at The New York Times; she was named a publishing reporter as her official title. Harris's first story for the Books Desk was about book phishing in an article titled, "Why on Earth is Someone Stealing Unpublished Book Manuscripts?" This article was deemed an "A1" article by The New York Times, meaning that it is featured on the front page of the newspaper edition or significant headline in an online setting. During Harris's time working at the Books Desk, she has reported for The New York Times numerous times about the cases of Book banning in [the United States ]. Harris has reported on the rise of this situation in public libraries and school libraries in the article, "Book Bans are Rising Sharply in Public Libraries" This article written alongside Alexandra Alter, was referenced in multiple scholarly research journals, including articles published within ResearchGate's online journal in February 2025 and Taylor & Francis's 32nd Volume in June 2024. The article was also referenced by the civil rights group, PEN America in April 2024, and it was also referenced in September 2025 by the University of Colorado Law School's Law review.Writing (Fiction)
Debut novel: ''How to Sleep at Night''
In 2025, Harris became a published novelist with her debut novel, How to Sleep at Night. Harris worked on writing the novel and publishing it while simultaneously continuing her work as a publishing reporter for the Books Desk at The New York Times.Publication
How to Sleep at Night was published on January 7, 2025 by William Morrow and Company. William Morrow and Company is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing that works with both fiction and nonfiction publishers. How to Sleep at Night is published under the following genres: Novels, Political Fiction, Queer Fiction.Reception
After Harris released How to Sleep at Night, it received national attention from major newspapers and book reviewers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Review of Books, and Kirkus Reviews. The reviews discuss the underlying themes of the work and the setting of modern day politics. Harris also attended the 2025 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Harris attended a book signing event and a speaking event with Jess Walter, her speaking event was moderated by Miwa Messer on September 6, 2025. Both events were held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.Core themes and plot
How to Sleep at Night covers a story of a fictional couple, Ethan and Gabe, who deal with the modern political climate as Ethan decides to run for congress as a republican and Gabe, who is a Democrat, chooses how to process the situation. The novel also follows in a side plot a character named Kate, who is Ethan's sister and plays the role of a political reporter at a large newspaper. The novel also follows a character named Nicole, who is Kate's ex lover. As determined by the major reviewers of the novel, Harris uses these fictional relationships to write about life in the public eye through Ethan and Gabe, and private life away from the public eye through Nicole and Kate.Author interviews and lived experiences
As an author, Harris has participated as an interviewee in several author interviews and has written about her personal experiences with writing a novel. In these interviews Harris talks about the challenges she had with writing a novel and her position as both a book reporter and novelist. Harris participated in an interview with Madeleine Feeny from The Bookseller; Harris explains that the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City originally gave her the additional time she needed to begin writing a novel while also working for The New York Times. In an interview with Shelf Awareness, Harris states that her favorite authors that have inspired her are: Virginia Woolf, Louise Glück, James McBride , Lauren Groff, and Ada Limón.Harris also has written in the Writer's Digest and Literary Hub about what she has learned herself about the book business from her experiences publishing a novel. Harris explains that she believes her time as a reporter has transformed her writing abilities. She explained that a challenge of hers was getting rid of the urge to want to give away the entire story at the beginning which is what she said is necessary in journalism but not in novel writing. Harris writes in her Writer's Digest post that she feels that she is lucky to be in the position that she is in now as a published novelist.