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Jessamine Chan

Jessamine Chan

“Writing about motherhood provides a great vantage point from which to write about society.”

Down Arrow

“I'm in awe of Jessamine Chan's mind.” —Liz Moore

Jessamine Chan’s writing has been described as “haunting” and “impossible to forget.” Searing and darkly witty, she directly confronts topics of class, race, and gender, as well as the expectations of motherhood in an oppressive and scrutinous society.

Jessamine’s explosive debut novel, The School for Good Mothers, was a New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna/TODAY Show Book Club pick, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Carnegie Medal, and one of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2022. Robert Jones, Jr. praised the novel as deserving “an honored place next to the works of Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler.” The School for Good Mothers was also named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Best of 2022 selection by TIME, Vogue, The New Yorker, NPR, WIRED, Entertainment Weekly. It has been translated in over 20 languages and is set to be adapted as a TV series optioned by Jessica Chastain’s “Freckle Films.”

A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Jessamine’s short fiction, essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Tin House, Epoch, Bon Appetit, Elle.com, Electric Literature, and The New York Times Book Review. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, VCCA, and Ragdale.

She lives in Chicago with her family.

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Topics

  • AANHPI
  • Best Sellers
  • Common Read / FYE
  • Cultural Criticism
  • Ethics
  • Feminism / Gender
  • Fiction

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Jessamine Chan

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Author Jessamine Chan Discusses Her Jenna Bush Hager Book Club Pick!

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