Jincy Willett

{{short description|American author and writing teacher}}

Jincy Willett is an American author and writing teacher currently living in San Diego, California.{{cite news |title=Interview with Jincy Willett |date=July 6, 2008 |url=http://www.redividerjournal.org/interview-with-jincy-willet/ |newspaper=Redivider |accessdate=2014-02-07 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009092854/http://www.redividerjournal.org/interview-with-jincy-willet/ |archive-date=2018-10-09}} She has written short pieces for various anthologies and periodicals including The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction,{{cite book | last=Cassill | first=R. V. | title=The Norton anthology of contemporary fiction | publisher=Norton | publication-place=New York | date=1988 | isbn=0-393-95619-9 | oclc=16277577 | pages=256–265}} Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2005), Funny Ha Ha, 80 of the funniest stories ever written, edited and selected by Paul Merton (Head of Zeus Ltd., 2019),{{cite book | last=Merton | first=Paul | title=Funny ha ha : 80 of the funniest stories ever written | publication-place=London | date=2019 | isbn=978-1-78854-426-9 | oclc=1243493003 | page=}} and Issues 22 and 56 of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Her first book, a collection of short stories called Jenny and the Jaws of Life, was initially published in 1987 to critical acclaim but smaller-than-expected sales. The public admiration of Willett's writing expressed by David Sedaris, however, had the book in reprint in 2002, garnering praise from critics and public alike.{{cite news |title=Interview with Jincy Willett |date=July 6, 2008 |url=http://www.redividerjournal.org/interview-with-jincy-willet/ |newspaper=Redivider |accessdate=2014-02-07 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009092854/http://www.redividerjournal.org/interview-with-jincy-willet/ |archive-date=2018-10-09}}

Her novel Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather,{{cite book|last=Pearl|first=Nancy|title=More book lust: recommended reading for every mood, moment, and reason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEByrTzqqoIC&pg=PT155|accessdate=20 June 2011|date=2005-04-14|publisher=Sasquatch Books|isbn=978-1-57061-435-4|pages=155–}} was published in 2002. The Writing Class, a Novel was published in 2008 by Macmillan's Picador imprint and is a mystery and the first novel in a trilogy,{{cite web|title=Macmillan Cataglog |url=http://us.macmillan.com/amyfallsdown/JincyWillett |accessdate=2014-02-07}} including Amy Falls Down, published by Thomas Dunne Books in July 2013,[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/07/jincy_willett_and_the_editor_she_s_known_since_college_thomas_dunne_on_her.html Jincy Willett and the editor she's known since college] Slate.com, July 2013 and Amy Among the Serial Killers, published by St. Martin's Press in August 2022.