Jessica Keener
Consultant
About Jessica
Jessica is the author of the two novels, a short story collection, and co-author of a business memoir. Her debut novel, Night Swim, was a national bestseller. Her follow-up novel, Strangers In Budapest (Algonquin Books), was an Indie Next Pick, a Southern Independent bestseller, and selected as a best new book by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, Chicago Review of Books, and others. Her story collection, Women In Bed, includes stories that have garnered awards and a listing in The Pushcart Prize under 100 Outstanding Writers. Other honors include: a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a Joan Jakobson Scholarship from Wesleyan Writers Conference, and a 2022 fellowship from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA). She has written more than a 100 features for nat'l magazines including The Boston Globe, Design New England, and O, The Oprah Magazine. The memoir she co-authored and sold on proposal--Time to Make the Donuts--is the definitive story of Dunkin' Donuts founder William Rosenberg's extraordinary life. She has taught writing at Boston University, Brown University, U. of Miami, FL, and selected fiction for Agni magazine, Ploughshares, and The Atlantic. Recent essays have appeared in WBUR's Cognoscenti, one of which was included in ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19, an anthology which won the 2020 Washington State Book Prize in Non-fiction. Jessica especially enjoys helping writers find their truest voice in their writing and coaching them through challenging points of resistance or blind spots. A tenth anniversary edition of Night Swim is forthcoming in February 2023. She has also just completed a new novel. For additional links and details, please visit her website: www.jessicakeener.com.