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.

Learn more >
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.

Read More >Buy

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.

Read More >Buy

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.

Read More >Buy

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!  

May 2, 2025
to
May 2, 2025

COACHING sessions at the Atlanta Writers' Conference

Meet with me at the Atlanta Writers' Conference for personalized query letter & synopsis advice and 1:1 coaching about the craft and business of writing.

May 8, 2025
to
May 8, 2025

My Body, My Book Club (virtual)

on MAY 8th, Join the My Body, My Book club virtual discussion of "The Magnetic Girl." My Body, My Book Club is based in the UK, and aims to connect people and create communities. We read fiction books (with the odd memoir here and there too) that deal with different aspects of how we understand bodily autonomy and exemplify how we can get involved and support each other. Issues such as gender-based violence, racism, homelessness, displacement, abortion, obstetric violence, and the rights of marginalised communities, like the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ groups, are just some of the topics we cover.

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.

VIEW ALL >
Jan 2025

Making Noise: On Learning to Play Drums The Year I Turned Sixty

Articulate. My husband has a twelve-inch-tall action figure of me — I’m serious — about the size of a Barbie doll. She is “fully articulated,” which in action-figure speak means that her arms and legs and head can swivel. When he had this made, he had one made of himself, too. It was a passing fad, a kind of a joke between us.

Another Chicago Magazine
>>
Nov 2024

The Little Things

Stop what you’re doing, and pay attention to your senses. How your fingers feel on the keyboard, or your feet on the floor. What about sound? Is your playlist going (and what’s on it?) or is that a trash truck grinding away on the street?

Brevity
>>
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
>>

About the Author

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

READ MORE ABOUT JESSICA >