Jennifer Genest grew up riding horses and playing in the woods of Sanford, a mill town in southern Maine. In college, she studied equestrian science before moving on to earn her BFA (Roger Williams University) and MFA (Antioch University Los Angeles) in creative writing.

Jennifer was a Peter Taylor Fellow for the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. Her story, “Ways to Prepare White Perch,” won the 2014 Ryan R. Gibbs Award for short fiction, was selected for The Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fiction 2015, and received an honorable mention for the 2014 Kenyon Review Short Story Contest.

Jennifer’s story, “What Guy Says No?,” published by Post Road magazine, was notable in the Best American Mystery Stories, 2018. Her essay, “The Mills,” published by Colorado Review, was notable in Best American Essays, 2020.

Jennifer’s novel manuscript, The Mending Wall, is currently seeking publication.

Jennifer lives with her husband and their two daughters in Los Angeles, CA.