Jalyn Renae Fiske is an author, editor, educator, and librarian. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2017. That same year, she began her tenure as Fiction Editor for James Gunn's Ad Astra magazine and also served as Editor-in-Chief for The Pitkin Review and editor for Clockhouse.

 

Jalyn writes blends of science fiction, fantasy, and horror that are at times unsettling, strange, or whimsical. She likes to explore themes of identity and transformation, as well as create different social constructs and systems in her worldbuilding that encourages the reader to ask--Why is it that way? Could it be different? Should it be? Some of her creative heroes include Nnedi Okorafor, Guillermo Del Toro, Lauren Marx, and Stephanie Pui-Min Law.

 

Jalyn's short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in The Science Fiction Tarot anthology, Allegory, Wyldblood, Mythaxis, Fabled Planet, and Sword and Sorceries Vol. 7, among others. Her debut short story collection, Side Quest: Stories, was released in November 2024 and was the Reader Views Literary Award winner for the Southern Region and the gold medal winner in Short Story Collections. 

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Learn more about Jalyn and her work:

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- Midland Reporter Telegram's front-page interview

- Reader Views review of Side Quest: Stories

- Author Ariel Basom's review of Side Quest: Stories

- West Texas Wordsmith's interview on Basin PBS

- YouTube reading of "Verity's Faery Teas" for Girl Cooties​​

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