It took courage to find my voice. I write about that in my forthcoming memoir At Work (2027, Cornerstone Press University of Wisconsin Sterling-Point). Other forthcoming writing explores an enigmatic and complex historical figure, Victoria C. Woodhull, in Radicals (2027, Library Tales Publishing/Simon & Schuster). My first novels were about women who found magic in response to the madness in their lives: We Arrive Uninvited (2023, Steel Toe Books Prose Winner) and Chaos Magic (2025, Kallisto Gaia Press), and I blend magic with environmental awareness in The Glass City (Press Americana Prize Winner). We Arrive Uninvited won the 2021 Steel Toe Books Prose Award, the Winter Goose Publishing Award, and was top-rated on the Coverfly Red List. A tender coming-of-age story set in the Ohio flatlands that plays deftly with mystery and the wonders of female power and intuition. Jen Knox explores with insight and wisdom the “hysteria” that women were, and still are, often labeled with, and counsels us to connect with the “pulse of the earth” and to each other. A talented writer exhibiting her own intuition, Knox understands that our greatest fear is loneliness. In We Arrive Uninvited, she gifts us myriad ways to find a cure. —Tara Lynn Masih, National Jewish Book Award Finalist for My Real Name Is Hanna In Jen Knox’s prize-winning novel, We Arrive Uninvited, the reader enters the world of dual narrators, two women, two generations apart, women grappling with the sometimes-alarming gifts of intuition, foretelling, and psychic receptivity—the goddess gifts interpreted by our culture as madness or worse, witchery. Knox is an exceptional writer and a compassionate one, her finely wrought prose like Tolstoy’s becomes that pool of clear water you see through to the bottom, so flawless nothing encumbers the story’s realization. We Arrive Uninvited compels us to turn pages and to consider what it is we’ve read. —Stephanie Dickinson, author of Razor Wire Wilderness and Blue Swan Black Swan: The Trakl Diaries We Arrive Uninvited is not just a novel about mental illness—it’s about empathy, survival, and the ways women navigate the world’s attempts to silence them in the name of embracing one’s full self. —Claire Melanie Svec via Sundress Reads Jen Knox creates a tale spun on the wishes, dreams, and revised visions of a girl who comes into her own abilities while facing down a family history of madness. Her passionate voice lends authority and insights to Emerson's first-person journey to create a compelling read highly recommended for readers interested in a very different kind of coming-of-age story. —Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review The Glass City is the winner of the Prize Americana for Prose. It was republished in 2023 by Hollywood Books International. “Jen Knox is a fearless writer. She can describe a Toledo community decimated by apocalyptic drought, a bakery in Nice during a terrorist attack, a surreal museum of living statues, and make every one of these things feel as real and intimate as your favorite worn-in flannel shirt. Acutely alert to the smallest moments that reveal character, her stories can give you a whole life in a few short paragraphs, laid bare in all its sorrow, glory, and restless longing. She can work dialogue, twist a plot, make you laugh out loud, and then break your heart. The Glass City speaks to the America of now as urgently as Sinclair Lewis or Theodore Dreiser did in their day, but with a touch of magic that only makes the reality beneath that much more haunting.” —Sheila Black, author of Iron, Ardent “Jen Knox is a master cartographer of the human psyche. In the stories of The Glass City, she maps the depths and complexity of the human mind against the backdrop of a future so possible yet so surreal that it’s nearly futile to try to set the book down. I kept telling myself, just one more page before bed, just one more story—until I found myself turning the last page in the middle of the night, having forgotten to eat dinner. Ultimately, The Glass City is the miracle of artistic imagination at its absolute peak: read casually, it thrills and entertains us with insightful depictions of who we are; read deeply, it shows us who we can become.” —Melissa Studdard, author of I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast “A set of penetrating and absorbing tales." —Kirkus Reviews Haunted by a violent past, the life that took her so long to rebuild is in jeopardy when Lissa’s ex-husband is released from prison. Both Lissa and her mother, a retired psychologist, become convinced that the only way to move forward is to get rid of him. While Lissa turns to the very magic her partner warned her would come with dire repercussions, her mother has a more pragmatic plan in mind. This is a story about strength and power, magic and community, and what it takes to learn to trust the voice within. "Surprisingly magical and magically surprising, Chaos Magic is masterful, artful, and filled with beautifully rendered prose. This story offers twists and turns, mind-reading majesties, and a host of characters who will knock off anyone's socks: a posse overcoming life's tricks, a lovely book of ceremonies, unconventional conventions, and an ultimate sense of unity and magic. A must read!" —Kim Chinquee, author of Pipette
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SELECT ANTHOLOGY/JOURNAL CONTRIBUTIONS:
"What They Can't See"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Minerva Rising Press
Publication: 2025
URL: https://minervarising.com/what-they-cant-see-by-jen-knox/
"Steady"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Winning Writers
URL: https://winningwriters.com/past-winning-entries/steady
"Bussing"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Prose Online. Date: 2023
Location: United States Format: Online, Audio
URL: https://prose.onl/read/jen-knox
First published in Five South
"Dandelion Ghosts"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Flash Fiction Magazine (Prize Winner)
Publication: 2021/2024
URL: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2021/01/27/dandelion-ghosts/
"Blackouts"/Jen Knox
Publisher: ELJ Publications, Eclipse Issue
Publication: 2024
Location: United States
Page #: 22 / URL: https://elm-leaves-journal.com/
"Wave"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Pure Slush Books, A Cluster of Lights,
Publication date: 2023
Location: Australia
Format: Print
Page #/URL: 12 / https://pureslush.com/store/anthologies-themed/a-cluster-of-lights/
"Factory Work"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Lit Cleveland GSR Prize
Publication Date: 2023
Location: United States
Format: Print / Online
URL: http://www.gordonsquarereview.org/jen-knox-issue-12.html
"Charisma"/Jen Knox
Publisher: great weather for MEDIA
Publication Date: 2023
Location: United States Format: Print and Online
Format: Print
ISBN: 979-8-9855633-2-0
URL: https://www.greatweatherformedia.com/a-shape-produced-by-a-curve
"Apologies"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Scarlet, Jaded Ibis Press Publication Date: 2023
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://jadedibispress.com/knox-apologies/
"Disembodied"/Jen Knox
Publisher: CutBank 99 Publication Date: 2023
Location: United States
United States
Format: Print
ISBN: 978-1939717535
URL: https://www.cutbankonline.org/store
"Time Away"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Five South Publication Date 2022
Location: United States
URL: https://fivesouth.net/knox-time-away/
"The Meaning of Life"/Jen Knox
Publisher: New Guard Publication Date/Volume: Volume X, 2024
Location: United States Format: Print
URL: https://www.newguardreview.com/tng-bookstore/tf56hr2hsv4p2pxjdi9qjo33hzwht3
"Family Photo"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Audacious Women anthology Publication Date: Forthcoming, 2025
Location: United States
Format: Print and Online
"Arcade"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Muddy Roads Anthology, Madville Publishing
Publication Date: 2022
Location: Texas, United States
Format: Print
ISBN: 978-1-956440-14-0
URL: https://madvillepublishing.com/product/muddy-backroads/
"Lost Her Way"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Taboos & Transgressions, Madville Publishing
Publication Date: 2021
Location: Texas, United States
Format: Print
URL: https://madvillepublishing.com/product/taboos-and-transgressions/
"Trickster"/Jen Knox
Publisher: MoonPark Review
Publication Date: 2021
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://moonparkreview.com/issue-sixteen-summer-2021/trickster/
Multiple poems/Jen Knox
Publisher: The Writing Disorder
Publication Date: 2020
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://writingdisorder.com/?s=knox
"Rideshare"/Jen Knox
Publisher: JMWW
Publication Date: 2018
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/fiction-rideshare-by-jen-knox/
"Sensory Details"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Fairlight Books
Publication Date: 2018
Location: United Kingdom
Format: Online
URL: https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/short_stories/sensory-details/
"On No-nut butters"/Jen Knox
Publisher: McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Publication Date: 2017
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-fifteenth-batch-2017
"Green"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Chicago Quarterly Review #23
Publication Date: 2016
Location: United States
Format: Print
Reprinted in the Aestas Anthology by Fabula Press
URL: http://www.chicagoquarterlyreview.com/issues/
"Fortune in Smoke"/Jen Knox
Publisher: The Santa Fe Writer’s Project (sfwp) Quarterly
Publication Date: 2016
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://www.sfwp.com/quarterly/fortune-in-smoke
"My Children in Times New Roman"/Jen Knox
Publisher: ROOM Magazine
Publication Date: 2015
Location: Canada
Format: Print
"The Inconvenience of It All"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Saturday Evening Post
Publication Date: 2015
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2015/04/the-inconvenience-of-it-all/
"The Regulars"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Flexible Persona
Publication Date: 2017
Location: United Kingdom
Format: Print/Online
"Lottery Days"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Literary Orphans
Publication Date: 2016
Location: United States
Format: Online
"West on N Road"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Superstition Review
Publication Date: 2015
Location: United States
Format: Online
"A Perpetual State of Awe"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Atticus Review
Publication Date: 2018
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Our Sky, the Ocean"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Lunch Ticket
Publication Date: 2019
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Salt"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Little Fictions
Publication Date: 2018
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Gather the Ingredients"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row
Publication Date: 2016
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: Gather-the-Ingredients (CTPR).pdf
"After the Gazebo"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Short Story America Anthology
Publication Date: 2017
Location: United States
Format: Print
"The Chef"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Modern Shorts
Publication Date: 2015
Location: United States
Format: Print
"On the 4th Floor"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Workers Write
Publication Date: 2011
Location: United States
Format: Print
"Endurance: A Handbook for Single Mothers"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Sunday Salon
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Static Time"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Apt
Publication Date: 2013
Location: United States
Format: Online
URL: http://apt.aforementionedproductions.com/2013/11/static-time-by-jen-knox/
"An Awkward Grief"
Publisher: Bound Off #90
Publication Date: 2012
Location: United States
Format: Audio
"Gasoline"/Jen Knox
Publisher: The Bombay Literary Magazine
Publication Date: 2013
Location: India
Format: Online
URL: https://bombaylitmag.com/gasoline-by-jen-knox/
"The Suit"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Burrow Press Review
Publication Date: [Year]
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Uninvited" (fiction about monsters)
Publisher: A cappella Zoo 11
Publication Date: [Year]
Location: United States
Format: Print
"Girls Don't Sit in the Back"/Jen Knox
Publisher: Prick of the Spindle
Publication Date: [Year]
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Nothing"
Publisher: Eunoia Review
Publication Date: [Year]
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Rita Forgives the World"
Publisher: Eunoia Review
Publication Date: [Year]
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Don't Tease the Elephants"
Publisher: Monkeybicycle
Publication Date: 2011
Location: United States
Format: Online
"The Regular"
Publisher: The Istanbul Review
Publication Date: 2011
Location: Turkey
Format: Print
"In Transit"
Publisher: Stone Highway Review
Publication Date: 2013
Location: United States
Format: Online
"Synchronicity"
Publisher: Gargoyle
Publication Date: 2012
Location: United States
Format: Print
"Regulars"
Publisher: Crannog
Publication Date: 2012
Location: Scotland
Format: Print
"Order Up"
Publisher: NPR's Three-minute Fiction Contest
Publication Date: 2011
Location: United States
Format: Online
"No Worries"
Publisher: EDGE v6
Publication Date: 2011
Location: United States
Format: Print
Shorter pubs...
"Dandelion Ghosts," Flash Fiction Magazine (Editor's Choice)
"Time Away," Five South (longlist for Flash Prize)
"On Abandoned Writing," Write or Die
"Sticky Hands," Reflex Fiction
"Popliteal Fossa," Flash Fiction Magazine"Mantel Birds" in Flash Fiction Magazine
"Emotional Intelligence," Cutthroat Lit Mag
"Scratching the Silver" in Per Contra
"Circling Home" in Poor Claudia (poetry)
"Columbus, Ohio" in Narrative Magazine
An early excerpt of Resolutions in Fairlight Books' story series:
Click on the HERE for an essay on dealing with bad days.
If you're ready to put your phone in airplane mode, check out
"The Regulars" in Flexible Persona
"Gather the Ingredients" in Press Americana
"Lottery Days" in Literary Orphans
"Open Times" in The Saturday Evening Post
"Gather the Ingredients" in Press Americana
"The Slope of a Line" in Litbreak
"A Perpetual State of Awe" at Atticus Review
"The White Room" at Blue Fifth Review, The Blue Collection 5
"West on N Road" at Superstition Review
"The Chef" at Fiction Attic Press
"Two Flew Away" at Midway Journal
"Beyond the Thin Line" in A-Minor
"Lying to Old Men" in The Adirondack Review
"Getting There" in PANK