Jen Hirt is the author of the memoir UNDER GLASS: THE GIRL WITH A THOUSAND CHRISTMAS TREES (Ringtaw Books/University of Akron Press 2010), which won the Drake University Emerging Writer Prize for 2011; the poetry chapbook TOO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT STRAWBERRIES (Tolsun Books 2018); and the essay collection HEAR ME OHIO (University of Akron Press 2020). Other award-winning writing includes "Students of the Route" (Terrain contest finalist); "Glow in the Dark" (Gabehart Prize); and "Lores of Last Unicorns" (Pushcart Prize). She has had four essays make the list of notable essays in the Best America Essays series. She is the co-editor of CREATING NONFICTION: TWENTY ESSAYS AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE WRITERS (SUNY 2016) , which won "Gold" at the Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Awards in the anthology category. She is also the co-editor of KEPT SECRET: THE HALF-TRUTH IN NONFICTION (MSU 2017). Her creative work has been published in journals such The Gettysburg Review, The Colorado Review, TriQuarterly, Salamander, and Redivider. She holds a B.A. in English from Hiram College, an M.A. in English from Iowa State University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Idaho. She lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and teaches at Penn State Harrisburg.