Jess Silfa is a writer and poet from the South Bronx. They have a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Vanderbilt University. They are currently a Yates Fellow in the English (Creative Writing) Ph.D. program at the University of Cincinnati.

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Jess is also an administrator of the MFA Draft Facebook group and has helped students apply for Creative Writing MFA Programs for over a decade. 

 

As a writer, Jess has received a Displaced Artist Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Mae Fellowship, and a Ricardo Salinas Scholarship for Aspen Summer Words. Jess currently serves as President of the Disabled and D/deaf Writers Caucus. They are working on their first novel and are represented by Annie DeWitt at The Shipman Agency. 

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Follow Jess on Twitter (x) or Bluesky @jesilfa.