About

Jess Jelsma Masterton was born in Louisiana and grew up in Alabama and Pennsylvania. She received a BA in anthropology and psychology from Cornell University, an MFA in prose from the University of Alabama, and a PhD in creative writing and literature from the University of Cincinnati.

As a writer, Jess has received support from organizations such as the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Oregon State University's Spring Creek Project, and the Truman Capote Literary Trust. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize anthologies and awarded the Don Hendrie Jr. Memorial Fiction Prize. Her recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Gettysburg Review, The Normal School, The Southern Review, and Quarterly West.  

As an educator, Jess has over nine years of experience teaching for colleges and programs such as the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference. As an editor, she has worked for both university-affiliated and independent publications including Ruminate Magazine and the Cincinnati Review.

She currently lives in Pennsylvania, where she is an assistant professor of publishing and media entrepreneurship at Susquehanna University. She teaches between the English Department and the Sigmund Weis School of Business. She also serves as the director of SU Press and the national director of FUSE: Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors.

In her free time, she enjoys gardening, spending time with husband and cat, and writing.

Writing

fiction

• “A Field Guide to Death on Cascade Head” Gettysburg Review

• “To the Fairest One” McNeese Review

• “A Study in Gentle Persuasion” The Southern Review (Audio)

• “A Cold War” The Arkansas International

• “No Sweeter Fat“The McNeese Review’s Boudin

• “A Last-Minute Addendum” CRAFT

• “Stray” Flyaway

• “Big Bob, Little River” The Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row

• “Vertebrae” The Normal School

• “The Sweeper” Indiana Review

• “Providence Road” Bayou Magazine

Critical

• “On the Power of Radical Transparency” Cincinnati Review

• “Decay and Symbolic Impotence in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye” The Explicator

Featured In

Projects

In addition to writing, editing, and teaching, Jess also designs books and magazines. She is the co-founder of Wild Burro, a small art, design, and publishing studio based out of Pennsylvania.

Contact

Jess loves connecting with fellow writers, educators, and publishing professionals. Please reach out via the form below or use the email link in the footer of this page.