Bio
Jess Rinker is the Director of Programming and Enrollment at The Writing Barn and serves as faculty in the Creative Writing MFA at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe.
Jess' books include: picture book biographies: Gloria Takes a Stand: How Gloria Steinem Listened, Wrote and Changed the World; Send a Girl!, about FDNY firefighter Brenda Berkman; middle grade novels: The Dare Sisters series; The Hike to Home; Monolith, and chapter books: Out of Time: Lost on the Titanic and the forthcoming 3rd book in the Sherlock Roach series, created by her late husband Joe McGee.
She’s currently agented by Jackson Keeler and working on a speculative young adult novel. As you can see, she likes to try everything.
Awards and Recognition
Photos by Anne Kirk Photo
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2024 | Awarded Sponsorship to Attend | Rebecca Dykes Writers and Highlights Foundation | Writing Through Trauma to Empower
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2024 | First Place | Hunger Mountain: The Katherine Paterson Prize | Novel Excerpt: The Girl in the Window
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2024 | Nominated for the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award | The Dare Sisters
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2024 | Nominated for the New Jersey Library Association Children's Book Award | Send a Girl!
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2022 | Excellence in Teaching and Learning | Online Course Creation and Teaching: English Composition
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2020 | Bank Street College Best Books | Gloria Takes a Stand
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2019 | Scholarship | Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium | Master Class on Place
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2018 | Honorable Mention | Hunger Mountain: Katherine Patterson Prize | Novel Excerpt: The Young Travelers Club
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2017 | Writer in Residence | Weymouth Center for the Arts, Southern Pines, NC
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2017 | Scholarship to Attend Award | Highlights Foundation, Honesdale, PA |Master Class on Nonfiction
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2013/2014 | Academic Scholarships | Short story, Creative Nonfiction | VCFA MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults
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2012/2010 | Writer on the Rise | Warren County, NJ
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2011 | Second Place | Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest | YA Novel: The Dream Recorder
Education
Vermont College of Fine Arts | MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults
Earned scholarships while attending: Application Merit, Short Story, and Personal Essay awards
Bloomsburg University| BA in Social Welfare
Phi Alpha Honor Society