about me
Jacqueline Doyle’s flash fiction collection The Missing Girl (winner of the Black River Chapbook Competition) is available from Black Lawrence Press. She has published creative nonfiction, fiction, and flash in literary journals such as EPOCH, The Gettysburg Review, Passages North, Southern Humanities Review, Sweet, Monkeybicycle, The Pinch, Wigleaf, Catamaran Literary Reader, New Ohio Review, Post Road, The Collagist, New World Writing, Catapult, and Fourth Genre. Her work has earned fourteen Pushcart nominations and numerous prizes (including first place in Midway Journal's flash contest, judged by Michael Martone). One of her flash was featured in Creative Nonfiction's "Sunday Short Reads," two were long listed in the "Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions," and eight of her essays have been awarded Notable Essay citations in Best American Essays.
photo: Steve Gutierrez
After growing up in a New Jersey suburb of New York City, she moved to Ann Arbor for college, then Providence, where she completed her BA at Brown. She lived in Ireland for a year, Germany for three years, and New York City for several years before moving to upstate New York, where she earned her PhD at Cornell. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, the writer Stephen D. Gutierrez. She has recently retired as an English professor at Cal State East Bay, and serves as Creative Nonfiction Editor at CRAFT Literary Journal.
Selected Teaching and Editorial Experience
Bending Genres online workshop, "LOOKING SIDEWAYS: Oblique Approaches to Generating and Focusing Your Flash Nonfiction," September 2021
Creative Nonfiction Editor, CRAFT Literary Journal, 2020-present
Professor, Department of English, California State University, East Bay, 1994-2020
Judge, Judging Panel for Spring Black River Chapbook Competition, Black Lawrence Press, 2017-present
Co-Moderator and member, The Leporine Conspiracy, San Francisco Writing Group, 2011-present
Member, Quills Writing Group, online, 2018-2020
Professor, Department of English, California State University, Fresno, 1986-1994
Honors and Awards
Notable Essay citation in Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee
(for "The Dream Lives of Objects," published in Superstition Review), 2022
"Memoir Monday" newsletter
(featured "Cutting Edge" from Permafrost in their weekly roundup), 2022
Best of the Net nomination
(by The Disappointed Housewife for "A Dress with Pockets, or Mediterranean Vistas"), 2022
Best Small Fictions nomination
(by Gone Lawn for "Ready or Not"), 2021
Best Microfiction nomination
(by NUNUM for "Super Stanley"), 2021
Best of the Net nomination
(by matchbook for "The Madwoman on BART"), 2021
Notable Essay citation in Best American Essays 2021, edited by Kathryn Schulz
(for "Madeline's Trunk," published in Passages North)
Pushcart Prize nomination
(by NUNUM for "Super Stanley"), 2021
Longlist for Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions
(for "The Madwoman on BART" in matchbook), 2021
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2020, edited by André Aciman
("Visitations" in Ghost Proposal), 2020
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by matchbook for "The Madwoman on BART"), 2020
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by The Disappointed Housewife for "Two Guys Carrying a Toilet into Taco Bell"), 2020
Longlist for Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions
("The Lost Umbrella" in Pithead Chapel), 2020
Featured in Creative Nonfiction Sunday Short Reads
("Little Colored Pills," originally published in Sweet: A Literary Confection), 2019
Best Small Fictions 2020 nomination
(by Juked for "Framed"), 2020
Best Small Fictions 2020 nomination
(by Tom Gumbert), 2020
Best Microfiction 2020 Nomination
(by CRAFT for "After Dinner"), 2019
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2019, ed. Rebecca Solnit
(for "Haunting Houses," published in New Ohio Review)
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by The Sunlight Press for "Dear Maddy"), 2019
Pushcart Prize Nomination and "Ten Most Read"
(by Little Fiction/Big Truths for "The Arithmetic of Memory"), 2019
Honorable Mentions, Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition (“After Dinner” and “Free Fall” in the Flash Fiction category; “A Eulogy, Despite” in the Creative Nonfiction category), 2019
Best of the Net Nomination, The Sunlight Press
(for "Dear Maddy"), 2019
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by Ellipsis for "Waking Up Late"), 2019
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by Jane Ciabatarri for fiction), 2019
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by Lunate for "Felicity Leaves the Door Ajar"), 2019
Winner (First Place), The Sunlight Press Essay Contest
(for "Dear Maddy"), 2019
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2018, ed. Hilton Als
(for "Family Pictures," published in The Gettysburg Review)
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by New Flash Fiction Review, for flash fiction "Pretty Girl"), 2018
("Pretty Girl" included in Genia Blum's "Hot Picks of 2018," Queen Mob's Teahouse)
Best Small Fictions 2019 Nominations
(by Bending Genres, for hybrid flash "What Remains"), 2018
(by Literary Mama, for flash "A Nest, a Rock, a Bird")
Best Microfiction 2018 Nomination
(by Atticus Review, for micro fiction "Leftovers")m 2018
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by The Gettysburg Review, for essay "Family Pictures"), 2018
Best of the Net Nomination
(by Midway Journal, for flash fiction "Zig Zag"), 2018
Finalist Listings, Best Small Fictions 2018
for "Zig Zag," nominated by Midway Journal
for "The Missing Girl," nominated by Black Lawrence Press
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by Wigleaf, for micro fiction "Little Darling"), 2017
Winner, Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, 2017
(First Place: Memoir-Vignette, Second Place: Creative Nonfiction, Second Place: Flash)
Winner (First Place), "1000 Below: Flash Prose and Poetry Contest," judged by Michael Martone
Midway Journal (for "Zig Zag"), October 2017
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2017, ed. Leslie Jamison
(for “A Eulogy, Despite,” published in Full Grown People)
Winner (First Place), Black River Chapbook Competition,
Black Lawrence Press, 2016 (for flash fiction chapbook The Missing Girl)
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by Monkeybicycle, for short story "Nola"), 2016
Best Small Fictions 2017 Nomination
(by Quarter After Eight, for flash fiction "Hula"), 2016
Best of the Net Nomination (by Monkeybicycle, for short story “Nola”), 2016
Best of the Net Nomination (by Phoebe, for short story “Winter Afternoon”), 2016
First Runner-Up, 2016 Fiction Contest, judged by Joshua Ferris,
Phoebe: A Journal of Literature and Art (for “Winter Afternoon”)
Ross McMeekin, “The Best Short Story I Read in a Lit Mag This Week:
Jacqueline Doyle’s ‘Nola’ in Monkeybicycle,” Ploughshares blog, May 7, 2016
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2015, ed. Ariel Levy
(for “Who’s Your Stepdaddy?,” published in Jabberwock Review)
Vela Magazine’s choice in “Women We Read This Week:
Jacqueline Doyle’s ‘The Tyranny of Things,’” March 6, 2015
Pushcart Prize Nomination (by Southern Humanities Review,
for creative nonfiction essay “Mary Magdalene’s Tibia”), 2014
Finalist, Diana Woods Memorial Award for Creative Nonfiction, judged by J.M. Waldie,
Lunch Ticket (for “Requiem for a Marriage”), 2014
Notable Essay Citation, Best American Essays 2013, ed. Cheryl Strayed
(for “The Tyranny of Things,” published in South Dakota Review)
“Pick of the Week: Jacqueline Doyle’s ‘The Interloper,’”
Longform: A Smart Reader (September 2013)
(for short story published in Bluestem)
Pushcart Prize Nomination
(by South Loop Review, for creative nonfiction essay “Doorbells”), 2013
Contest Winner, Flash Fiction Category, NLAPW Biennial Letters Competition
(for “Louanne’s Baby” in Front Porch Journal), 2013
Winner, “Study Questions” Contest, judged by Patrick Madden,
Ninth Letter Online (for “Nineteen Ways of Looking at an Essay”), 2012
Winner, “Picture Worth 500 Words Contest," Tattoo Highway (for “Diego’s Shoes”), 2011
Interviews, Reviews, and Profiles
Cameron Finch, Tiny Interview #2: Jacqueline Doyle, Tiny Molecules (November 9, 2022)
Apparel for Authors interview, Instagram (October 22, 2021)
Contributor Interview, NUNUM (July 20, 2021)
Jayne Martin, "Missing Girls, Hidden Women: A Conversation About Lost Voices with Author Jacqueline Doyle," The San Franciscan (Spring 2021) (print and online)
Rick Bailey, review of The Missing Girl, Rick Bailey Blog (September 9, 2020)
Contributor Spotlight, Rappahannock Review (2019)
Genia Blum, "Five of My Faves," The Poetry Question (November 7, 2019)
"My Mother's Suitcases" featured in The Nasiona podcast, Episode 9, "On Daughters" (August 24, 2019)
Interview with Jacqueline Doyle, Sweet: A Literary Confection blog (August 22, 2019)
“#MeToo All Over Again: Gay Degani Interviews Jacqueline Doyle, Author of The Missing Girl,”
Heavy Feather Review (May 6, 2019)
Zoë Ballering, “Naming Names: A Review of Jacqueline Doyle’s The Missing Girl,”
Bellingham Review (March 26, 2019)
Abigail Morton, review of The Missing Girl, Runestone (2019)
Emily Devane, review of The Missing Girl, Short Fiction in Theory and Practice (UK, print), vol. 8, nos. 1&2 (2018)
Dan Wickett, "Mini-Interview with Jacqueline Doyle," Dzanc Books Emerging Writers Network (December 26, 2018)
Jenny Lee Ferguson, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, online Interview via Zoom with her English 290 class (Creative Writing) about The Missing Girl, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (May 23, 2018)
Featured writer, "Mr. Bear's Violet Hour Saloon" podcast, Boston Free Radio (Episode 165, "Chasing Rabbits," March 11, 2018)
Featured flash ("Little Darling," Wigleaf) in Cathy Ulrich's craft essay, "ABC's of Flash Writing: Q is for Quiet," Spry Literary Journal (May 4, 2018)
Elizabeth DiPietro, review of The Missing Girl, Glassworks (May 1, 2018)
Jan Stinchcomb and Alyssa Bluhm, The Missing Girl among "Our Favorite 2017 Small Press Short Story Collections (Plus a Few Others)," Paper Darts
Tommy Dean, "Mini-Interview: Jacqueline Doyle," tommydeanwriter.com (December 11, 2017)
Lara Lillibridge, review of The Missing Girl, Mom Egg Review (December 13, 2017)
Al Kratz, The Missing Girl as one of the "Best Books of 2017: Staff Picks" The Coil (December 13, 2017)
Author's Talk Podcast, Superstition Review (October 31, 2017)
Katy Haas, review of The Missing Girl, New Pages (November 1, 2017)
Wesley Cohen, review of The Missing Girl, The East Bay Review (October 7, 2017)
Sarah Batcheller, review of The Missing Girl, Phoebe: A Journal of Art and Literature (September 22, 2017)
William Woolfitt, “Interview: Jacqueline Doyle,” Speaking of Marvels: Interviews about Chapbooks, Novellas, and Books of Assorted Lengths (July 20, 2017)
Lynn Mundell, “One Plus One Equals 3: A Couple Co-Writing as ‘Alvarado,’” 100 Word Story (October 16, 2016)
Featured Writer, Writing Between the Vines: Vineyard Retreats for Writers, April 2016
Jacqueline Doyle and Stephen D. Gutierrez, “On Collaboration and ‘Imaginary Friends,'" Grist: The Online Companion, issue 8, 2015
Bird Marathe, “Interview with Alvarado O’Brien [Jacqueline Doyle and Stephen D. Gutierrez]," Timber, November 2013
Featured Writer #38: Jacqueline Doyle and J.M. Gamble, Comments by “Study Questions” Contest Judge Patrick Madden on "Nineteen Ways of Looking at an Essay," Ninth Letter Online (November 2012)
Nathaniel Tower, “Author Showcase: Jacqueline Doyle,” Bartleby Snopes: Post-Experimentalism, September 7, 2012
Craft Essays, Books, and Classes Featuring My Work
"Little Colored Pills," originally published in Sweet, to be included in the anthology/craft book Essay Form(s), edited by Jill Talbot (Columbia University Press, forthcoming). "Haunting Houses," originally published in New Ohio Review, will be included in a "Supplemental Reading List" in the book as well.
"Little Darling," originally published in Wigleaf, included and discussed in Grant Faulkner's The Art of Brevity (University of New Mexico Press)
Ellen Blum Barrish, essay and memoir workshops ("Dear Maddy")
William Woolfitt, Lee University ("The Madwoman on BART")
Jay Parr, University of North Carolina, Greensboro ("(Parenthetical Asides)")
Jill Talbot, University of North Texas ("Little Colored Pills" and "Still Lives" and "Haunting Houses")
Sean King, American High School, Fremont ("Nola")
Andrew Bertaina, American University ("My Mother's Suitcases")
DeMisty D. Bellinger, Fitchburg State University ("Two Guys Carrying a Toilet Into Taco Bell")
Kathryn Kulpa, Cleaver Flash Fiction classes ("A Murder of Crows," "Dark Hallway," various)
Rachel Laverdiere, "Hone and Polish Your Lyric Essay" ("The Dream Lives of Objects")
Sarah Freligh, "Less is More" class on micros ("Flash, Back: Revisiting Jayne Anne Phillips")
Tupelo Hassman, Cal State East Bay ("Discovering My Gall Bladder")
Jabari Asim, Emerson College MFA (excerpt on the essay from "It's a Wonder")
Glenda Bailey-Mershon, private workshops ("Because I Could Not Stop for Death")
Hannah Canjadig-Taylor, Northern Michigan University (chapbook The Missing Girl)
Kaj Tanaka, "When a House Becomes a Town: The Flash Fiction Chapbook" (Sept.-Dec.2020), Grackle Writing (chapbook The Missing Girl)
Grant Faulkner, "Walking to Wonder," Intimations: A Writer's Discourse (December 2021) ("Little Darling")
Sudha Balagopal, "How Flash Fiction Improves Your Writing," Chicago Writers Association blog (June 2021) ("Little Darling")
Al Kratz, "Notes from the Slush Pile: Endings, Al Kratz Blog (February 5, 2019) ("Pretty Girl")
Sophie van Llewyn, “Time in Flash Fiction,” TSS Publishing (January 4, 2019) ("Departure")
Sophie van Llewyn, "Unusual Structures in Flash Fiction - Part II," TSS Publishing (October 25, 2018) ("The Missing Girl")
Cathy Ulrich, "ABCs of Flash Writing: Q is for Quiet,” Spry Literary Journal (May 4, 2018) ("Little Darling")
Jenny Lee Ferguson, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, visited English 290 (Creative Writing) online, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (chapbook The Missing Girl)
Residencies and Workshops
Rowe Center, Build Me a Hummingbird: How to Distill Your Life in a Micro-Memoir with Beth Ann Fennelly, March 2023
Bending Genres retreat, Ojai, CA, August 2022
Iota Workshop, Forest in the Trees: Shaping a Book of Essays or Memoir-in-Essays, with Rebecca McClanahan, February 2022
LoungeWriters, A Sense of Play with Aimee Bender, September 2021
Fast Flash Workshops with Kathy Fish, February 2019, May 2021, December 2021, May 2022
Bending Genres Workshop with Meg Tuite, July 2021
Fast Flash Reunions with Kathy Fish, June 2019, June 2020, June 2022
Fast Flash Extravaganza with Kathy Fish, June 2018
Hawai'i Writers' Retreat with Brenda Miller and Sheila Bender, Waikoloa, Big Island, December 2017
Corporeal Writing Hybrid Workshop with Lidia Yuknavitch, Silverton, OR, September 2017
WordTango's Weekend Flash Workshop with Kathy Fish, February 2017
Catamaran Writing Conference, Pebble Beach, CA, August 2016
Soaring Gardens Artists’ Retreat, Lerman Trust, Laceyville, PA, June 2016
Writing Between the Vines, Vineyard Retreats for Writers, Sonoma, CA, February 2016
First Book Boot Camp with Cristina Garcia, La Dos Brujas Writers’ Workshops, Greenbrae, CA, January 2016
Writing by Writers Workshop@Tomales Bay, Lyric Essay with Mark Doty, Marshall, CA, October 2015
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, General Contributor in Nonfiction, Ripton, VT, August 2015
Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Creative Nonfiction, Squaw Valley, CA, July 2014
Creative Nonfiction Workshop, Centrum, Port Townsend, WA, June 2012