Jacqueline West (born December 29, 1979) is an American writer of

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

and poet. Her poetry has been nominated for the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

and her '' Books of Elsewhere''

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

series has appeared on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list.

Early life and education

Jacqueline West was born in

Red Wing, Minnesota Red Wing is a city in and the county seat of Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the upper Mississippi River. The population was 16,547 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropo ...

, but was raised in

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce and St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located mostly within the town of River Falls, and adjacent to the town of Kinnickinnic in St. Croix County. River Falls is the most populous city ...

, where she graduated from

River Falls High School River Falls High School is a public high school in River Falls, Wisconsin. Extracurricular activities Marching band The RFHS marching band has won its class in marching band competition 24 times since 1985. It won state titles in 1985, 1987, 1 ...

in 1998. She received a degree from the

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, and has studied at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and

Edgewood College Edgewood College is a private Dominican college in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The college occupies a campus overlooking the shores of Lake Wingra. It offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and 25 graduate degrees, and has an enroll ...

. She currently resides in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Career

West is the author of '' The Books of Elsewhere'', a

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

series published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of

Penguin Group USA Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...

. Beyond work with fiction, West also publishes poetry. Her chapbook of poetry about Czech immigrants to western Minnesota, ''Cherma'', was published by the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

's Parallel Press in March, 2010. Additionally, she has been an arts and theater reviewer for ''

Isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

'', a newspaper in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for Poetry twice. In 2008, she won the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize for poetry, and she was a finalist for the

Minnesota Book Awards The Minnesota Book Awards are presented annually for books created by writers, illustrators or book artists who are Minnesotans. The award, originally established in 1988, is organized by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. History ...

in 2011, 2012, 2019, and 2022. Her book The Shadows was a finalist for the 2011–2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award, the 2013 Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Awards (Grades 3–5), and the 2013 Illinois Bluestem Award. West was the winner of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for Middle Grade Literature for her 2021 book Long Lost.

Works

*''Cherma'' (Parallel Press, March 2010), * ''Dreamers Often Lie'' (Dial Books, April 5, 2016), * *, Illustrated by Hatem Aly * * The Books of Elsewhere *, illustrated by Poly Bernatene * * * *''Still Life: The Books of Elsewhere'', Penguin, 2014, The Collectors * *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Jacqueline 1979 births Living people American children's writers American fantasy writers People from Red Wing, Minnesota People from River Falls, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Novelists from Minnesota Novelists from Wisconsin American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers 21st-century American women writers