Jessica Hendry Nelson, MFA
Assistant Professor
Creative Writing
Education
- MFA (Creative Writing) Sara Lawrence College
- BA (English) University of New Hampshire
Research Interests
- Literary Nonfiction
- Lyric Essay
- Literary Journalism
- Motherhood
- Addiction Studies/Literature of Addiction
- Grief Studies
- Creative Writing
- Pedagogy Podcasting
Select Publications
- “Love and Other Pandemics.” The Sun Magazine, Fall 2024.
- “An Impossible Mercy.” Northwest Review. Winter 2023.
- “In the Valley.” North American Review. Fall 2021.
- “Sunday: A Travelogue.” Prairie Schooner, Winter 2017.
Books
- Joy Rides Through the Tunnel of Grief (memoir/essays). Athens: U of Georgia Press. 2023.
- Advanced Creative Nonfiction: A Writer’s Guide & Anthology (textbook). London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
- If Only You People Could Follow Directions (memoir/essays). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2014.
Courses
- Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- Form & Theory of Creative Nonfiction
- Forms of Joy in Creative Nonfiction
- Women
- Literary Publishing (Faculty Editor, Blackbird)
Awards
- AWP Sue William Silverman Award in Creative Nonfiction (Book Prize), Winner, (Joy Rides Through the Tunnel of Grief)
- PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay (Book Prize), Longlist, (Joy Rides Through the Tunnel of Grief)
- Indies Introduce Debut Author selection (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Indies Next List by the American Booksellers Association (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Kirkus Review, ‘Best Books of the Year’ (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Kirkus Review, Starred Review, (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Library Journal, Starred Review, (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Indies Next List for Reading Groups (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)
- Vermont Book Award finalist (If Only You People Could Follow Directions)