About

Jane Harrington’s career in the literary arts has spanned more than two decades. She has published books for the youth market (Scholastic, Lerner) and currently crafts literary fiction, creative nonfiction and lyric prose. Journals showcasing her work include Chautauqua, Feminine Collective, Irish America, Eastern Iowa Review, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and others. Her writing has been short-listed for prizes both nationally and internationally, and her novel In Circling Flight was awarded the 2019 Brighthorse Prize. Jane is a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) and currently teaches wordcraft and literature as a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Featured Work

EXTREME PETS!

2008

Published by Scholastic, EXTREME PETS! was a 2008 American Library Association YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a 2008 Children's Choices selection with the International Reading Association and Children's Book Council, a Washington Post Book of the Week, a feature in Disney Adventures Magazine, and it has been a regular inhabitant of recommended reading lists in libraries and schools. Available in hardcover and audiobook versions.

Other Works

Awards and Recognition

  • IN CIRCLING FLIGHT -- Winner of the 2019 Brighthorse Prize in the novel
  • "The Visits" -- Long-listed for Fish Publishing Short Memoir Prize 2018; honorable mention, Asheville Writers' Workshop Hard Times contest, 2018.
  • "Settling" -- Short-listed, 2016 Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award, Wexford, Ireland; published in Mountains Piled Upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene (West Virginia UP 2019)
  • "Speranza" -- Runner up, Portable Stories Contest, 2016
  • "Way Out Farm" -- Honorable mention, 2016 Leap Frog Press Fiction Contest (for a novella)
  • "Flight" -- Finalist, 2015 Dana Award for the Novel
  • "Into the Air" -- First place, Writerhouse/C-Ville Creative Nonfiction Contest (2014)
  • "All God's Children Gonna Take a Ride" -- Second place, 2014 Virginia Golden Nib short story competition (chapter level); “Highly Recommended” work, Ireland’s 2014 Sean O’Faolain International Short Story Prize competition
  • "Dear John, I've fallen for a dog," -- Short-listed, Fish Publishing 2013/14 Short Story Prize
  • "Watching--the Fall" -- Long-listed, Fish Publishing Short Memoir Contest (2013)
  • "Moving Day" -- Long-listed, Anam Cara, Ireland, Short Fiction Contest (2012)
  • EXTREME PETS -- 2009 selection, Children's Book Council & International Reading Association; 2008 ALA "Quick Picks For Reluctant Young Adult Readers; 2007 Washington Post "Book of the Week"
  • MY BEST FRIEND, THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, AND OTHER GREAT BODIES STANDING BETWEEN ME AND MY LIFE WITH GIULIO -- 2008 selection, Junior Library Guild