Biography
Britta Jensen is an author, editor and writing coach with a teacher’s heart. Her debut YA novel Eloia Born won the 2019 Writer’s League of Texas YA Discovery Prize. Reviewers called the book “both a dystopian narrative and a quest story; consider it a spiritual successor to Lois Lowry’s The Giver and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.” Her stories explore themes of persevering through disability, parental separation, and the intersection of love and various cultures on new worlds. Subsequent publications include Hirana’s War, Ghosts of Yokosuka, and the recently released Orphan Pods as well as short stories in Mixed Bag of Tricks, The Castle of Horror Anthology vol 6, as well as several more anthologies. Her most recent novel, Orphan Pods, received enthusiastic praise from Publisher’s Weekly: “The story draws on familiar dystopian elements of oppressive regimes and youth-led resistance, but it transcends them through honesty and layered characterization. This is not just a dystopia—it’s a reflection on what freedom truly means and what one must sacrifice to attain it.”
Britta’s plays have been performed in New York City, Japan and South Korea. She earned a BA in Acting Performance from Fordham University, an MA in Teaching of English Literature from Columbia University, is an alumni of the Faber Academy, and holds a certificate in Running Writing Workshops from the Professional Writing Academy in the UK. For the past twenty-two years she has taught creative writing and edited books for both traditional and indie authors. She has received numerous awards, including the General Sharp Award from the US Army, for her innovative teaching of creative writing in New York City, South Korea and Germany. Friends often refer to her as a polyglot—which is a product of living twenty-two years overseas in Japan, South Korea, and Germany before settling in Austin, Texas. She’s currently working hard on Bones of Our Ancestors, the sequel to Orphan Pods.
She enjoys mentoring writers and editing books with The Writing Consultancy, Yellowbird Editors, and publishing speculative female authors with Murasaki Press. In her spare time, she dances with her awesome tailor husband, and volunteers with the Relief Society, SCBWI and the Writer’s League of Texas. Britta is a member of the SCBWI, the Editorial Freelancers Association, Reedsy, and the Alliance for Independent Authors. Join her newsletter and visit her YouTube channel for free insights into her writing and editorial process. Wanting to see the sillier side of Britta? Visit her on Instagram @brittajensenwrites.
To download her full size author photo here. You can download her full biography here.
INTERVIEWS & DISCOGRAPHY WITH BRITTA JENSEN
- https://njknightbooks.substack.com/p/chapter-iii
- https://www.scbwi.org/posts/member-interview-author-britta-jensen
- https://www.scbwi.org/events/monthly-meeting-april2024
Britta’s guiding philosophies and origins in writing
“I believe writing gives voice to the deep things we cannot say.”
Britta’s love of writing began at a young age, her stories being shaped by mentors, students, and her plentiful adventures living overseas in Europe and Asia. Many of her stories take place at the intersection of various cultures and explore themes like perservering through disability, parental separation and overcoming the boundaries we place on ourselves.
In the fifth grade my family moved to Yokosuka, Japan. It was the first time my family felt welcome in a new location after a very itinerant life. I was ten years old and prone to fighting on the playground with boys when they called me names. One day my teacher, Tomimatsu sensei, caught me punching another boy and hauled us both inside. She gave us a severe verbal undressing in Japanese and English to the point that we both were in tears. She sent the boy away and peered over her long desk. I thought for sure she was going to call my mother.
Instead, she pulled out a translucent sheet of my calligraphy. She asked to see the notebook I carried around with my everywhere, scribbling when I had a quiet moment in class or during lunch.
Tomimatsu-sensei tapped the notebook. “You are a good girl. Good girls don’t get in fights with boys. Look here…” she pointed to a page of calligraphy I’d finished earlier in class, then flipped to a page in my notebook. “You are a writer. See how you carefully follow the stroke order of every character of kanji. That is a gift.” She smiled and handed me a pen from her desk. “You are like Lady Murasaki, or Murasaki-shkibu, our first woman novelist in Japan. I want you to develop your talent during lunch instead of fighting. I will see you here everyday.”
She wrote me a pass and every day I dutifully came to her classroom for lunch. She stopped calling me Britta and a different Murasaki-shkibu was born.
My teachers and professors, like Tomimatsu-sensei, were my first mentors. They encouraged me to keep writing, to analyze the narrative, characters and how the story is guided by character intentions and voice—not unlike inspecting the whorls and curves of a page of kanji..
My stories first found a home while working with teens in Washington Heights, NYC and overseas with multi-cultural military communities whose lives inspired me. After “bribing” students with stories I made up as an incentive to finish our required reading, I was inspired to share my novels with a wider audience. I was curious why many mainstream bestselling stories didn’t feature more female and multi-cultural voices (particularly from non-western diasporas).
I definitely do not write with an agenda. However, after sixteen plus years of discussions with teen readers, students and editors, I’ve realized that I have been writing what I know as well as what I hope to see in the future, albeit rather subconsciously. I want all the dear people who surround me: disabled, non-disabled, multi-cultural, and the voices of women especially to be explored in new ways through the lens of speculative fiction. I’ve been heavily influenced by NK Jemisin, Becky Chambers, Madeleine Thien, Zadie Smith, Brandon Sanderson, Matt Haig and Maria Turtschaninoff.
I believe writing gives voice to the deep things we cannot say. Stories open windows to the soul and can be a vessel for healing. My work as an artist informs how I advise writers because I daily show up to the page and prioritize my most vital work. At the heart of becoming a better writer is holistic and honest revision, which are key to literary success. I believe in consistently seeking to improve my craft to help the narrative of every story I work on to reach a readership in our global world. I will never stop looking for the best way to tell stories and help authors build their story worlds.
As an editor and writing mentor I want to partner with authors who envision their work reaching a wider audience and are willing to go deep with their story’s structure, narrative and characters. I don’t believe in gimmicks or tricks when crafting fiction and non-fiction. This is deep work. Sustainable growth requires showing up to the page consistently and being willing to revise your work through multiple drafts to either prepare for traditional or indie publication. Though indie publication can be frowned upon, there are still a lot of gatekeepers, particularly for speculative and minority writers that make it hard to get published through traditional means. I know first-hand how quality indie publishing can fashion one into a more polished and professional author.
The indie space continues to release a lot of quality, award-winning work. Several noteable authors started as indies: Becky Chambers, Matt Haig, Christopher Paolini, and Barbara Freethy are amongst a growing cadre. Speculative fiction especially finds its heart most often in the indie space and I am proud to be a part of this world where authors know their readers personally, are involved in marketing decisions and aware of all the distribution channels available to them. If you want to support authors and contribute to your literary community, buy their books! If you’re on a budget, you can download my first novel, Eloia Born for free. (Disclaimer: you’ll need to sign-up for my author newsletter in exchange).
If you have a story you’re wanting to tell, or have already crafted and are looking for guidance, do visit The Writing Consultancy where I’m the head editor. Thanks for joining me here and I look forward to seeing you at one of my book events very soon!