Writer, Teacher, Human

Writing fiction and nonfiction is how Jessica Handler explores the questions that haunt her, fascinate her, and won’t let her go. Writing is her doorway into empathy, celebration, and wonder. She hopes it’s the same for you.

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Author Photo: Royce Soble

"Depth and emotion..."

Booklist

"Handler’s beautiful storytelling enlightens us…"

The Bitter Southerner

Books by Jessica Handler

Explore Jessica Handler's thought-provoking themes and powerful narratives.

Invisible Sisters

One daughter’s moving account of illness, death, and the dissolution of her family.

Braving The Fire

"Braving the Fire" is the first book to provide a road map for the journey of writing honestly about grief and loss.

The Magnetic Girl

Set in a time of emerging electricity and heightened Spiritualism, "The Magnetic Girl" is an inspired novel about women's quest for political, cultural, and sexual presence.

I am compelled by a single theme in my fiction and nonfiction: women and girls bearing more responsibility than they believe they can carry, and the ways they — we — learn to thrive.

Jessica Handler

Events

Join Jessica Handler for writing workshops, book signings, and engaging conversations with award-winning authors!

Mar 9, 2025

Mar 14, 2025

Writing Family Stories

Join me for a week at Serenbe's Art Farm to learn techniques for writing about family: developing plot as well as for writing scene, description, and character. Together, we’ll explore innovative ways of bringing family dynamics to life on the page, including research, sensory engagement, and drawing (even if you’re not an artist.) We will read and discuss excerpts from well-known examples of family stories, and maybe share a little bit of our own writing, too.

Link Register here >

Award Winning!

The Magnetic Girl

Set in a time of emerging electricity and heightened Spiritualism, "The Magnetic Girl" is an inspired novel about women's quest for political, cultural, and sexual presence.

Learn more >

FeatureS

From insightful interviews to engaging essays, see how Jessica's work continues to resonate with readers and critics alike.

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Dec 2023

The Muscle For Escape

This is one of those stories you bring out near last call so you’ll never have to go home.

Short Reads

Mar 2023

Marshall Crenshaw's Someday Someway

Stop what you’re doing right now and cue this baby up. It will only take about three minutes of your time, the length of a standard radio pop hit. Because that’s what it is. A power-pop hit.

March Fadness

May 2022

Notice

“Notice,” my yoga teacher coos. I open one eye to notice that on the Zoom screen, he’s sitting upright. Sukhasana. I settle myself in the same posture on my yoga mat in my living room, legs crossed, spine straight.

Brevity Magazine

May 2022

Owning My Worth

When I was 8 years old, my father, who turned out to be terrible with money, worked on a colleague’s campaign for U.S. Senate. One day I walked into my parents’ bedroom to find my father sitting on the bed, surrounded by an ocean of cash.

Oldster

About the Author

Get to know Jessica Handler and explore the writing and teaching that defines her work.