Hello friends,
It’s been a while. Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Sorry for being MIA. The sociopolitical climate and endless carousel of horrific news have made me withdraw from writing regular content. Posting about books and other literary shenanigans has felt a bit frivolous when the world is burning. That being said, I miss it — and you. We need community and solidarity more than ever. And I have a book to promote. So, hi.
My book No Contact: Writers on Estrangement comes out on April 28 with Catapult. I’m very proud of it and so grateful to my contributors and publisher. I hope this book brings nuance and compassion to the conversation about family estrangement. You can pre-order it now (pre-orders are super helpful to authors and publishers, and you will have my utmost gratitude).
No Contact is a poignant and galvanizing anthology that illuminates the realities and nuances of family estrangement, with pieces by Stephanie Foo, Nick Flynn, Deesha Philyaw, Cheryl Strayed, and others. […] Through thirty-two intimate, first-person accounts, No Contact counters the prevalent trope of reconciliation as a happy ending, focusing instead on the complex grief, healing, and authenticity found in the rupture from family.
Ocean Vuong said No Contact is “a landmark work around a theme so prominent—and yet so thoroughly ignored—in modern life.” And Publishers Weekly called it “grippingly vulnerable.” No Contact is a most anticipated book of 2026 in The Seattle Times and Zibby’s Highlights. You can read more blurbs and advanced praise here (scroll down).
No Contact is the book I wish I could have read twenty years ago when I first cut ties with my parent and felt so lost and relieved and devastated. I hope it makes estranged individuals feel seen and connected and helps those who are not estranged better understand the complexities of the experience. I can’t wait for you all to read it.
The book releases on April 28 and my publisher has a book tour in the works with dates on both coasts. Stay tuned! (You can also check my website which I try to update regularly.)
For those of you who are interested in the topic of estrangement, I’m starting a Substack page on the topic, No Contact. I will soon launch an interview series called The No Contact Chat about family rupture, mostly through a literary perspective (i.e. with people who write about the subject). More soon!
I’m thrilled to be teaching “Tackling Trauma and Taboo in the Personal Essay” as part of the Visiting Authors series at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, Colorado, on May 12.
This will be a hybrid class, so you can sign up to participate on Zoom if you’re not local. This will be lecture-style with pauses for writing prompts. Anyone who’s taken my classes will tell you I am thorough and passionate and tend to pack my sessions with content and inspiration.
Here’s the class description:
Writing about difficult experiences can help us process them, reach catharsis and empowerment, and heal. The personal essay can be the perfect vessel to distill a tough topic into a digestible shape, challenging us to be selective and specific while leveraging voice and form. In this class, we’ll discuss how to navigate a tough topic through craft, mitigate it for the reader, and care for the writer self. We’ll talk about choosing the right angle and entry point, experimenting with structure, and assessing the potential risks of telling difficult truths.
Tackling Trauma and Taboo in the Personal Essay
Tuesday, May 12
3-5pm MT / 5-7pm ET / 2-4pm PT
I can’t wait to see you there! For locals, the class will be followed by a happy hour and an event for No Contact, featuring four of the anthology’s contributors, Erika Krouse, Anna Qu, Raksha Vasudevan, and Soni Brown — all incredible writers. Should be amazing (and also livestreamed!).
Here are a few of my recent publications:
Margaret Atwood muses on life and writing in memoir “Book of Lives” — The Seattle Times, November 2025
Distance from Trauma by Writing the Memoir Self as a Character in a Novel: A Conversation with Karen Palmer — The Rumpus, December 2025
Interview with Maddie Ballard, author of Patchwork: A Sewist’s Diary — Hippocampus Magazine, January 2026
On Instagram, I rounded up my favorite reads of 2025.
Since the Washington Post dismantled its entire book coverage team, I will do my part and reboot my mini book reviews here. Read books, people! It makes the world a better place.
Here are some recent reads:
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews — A gorgeous book and 2022 National Book Award Finalist. Sneha, a young queer immigrant, navigates friendship, romance, racism, trauma, family, and the labor force. Millennial recession angst written with poetry and humor.
Fourth Wing (and the Empyrean series) by Rebecca Yaros — Romantasy is firmly out of my comfort zone, but as an editor, I try to explore unfamiliar genres to better understand the market. This series hooked me — grumpy dragons, magic-wielding sex, and all. The focus on militarism and violence felt somewhat problematic but the story’s moral compass points in the right direction. Yaros’s character development and world building are admirable.
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl — I had long wanted to check out Renkl’s writing and, no surprise, it wowed me. This book is a serenade to the natural world, a meditation both joyful and nostalgic on the seasons and the beauty of the smallest things, often found in our own backyard. A breath of fresh air and powerful counterpoint to current news coverage and barrage of AI slop.
What are you reading? Give me all your recs!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. ‘Til next time!
Jenny
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