Janet Benton
and The Word Studio
I’ve built my life around writing and helping others write compelling works. My debut novel, Lilli de Jong, was one of Library Journal’s and NPR’s Best Books 2017, a finalist for The Langum Prize in Historical Fiction, one of Bustle’s “17 Best Debut Novels by Women 2017,” an Amazon and Barnes and Noble top pick, and more. My essays and other writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Glimmer Train, Writers Digest, and elsewhere. I’m an editor and a writers’ mentor through my business The Word Studio and have taught writing at five universities, at conferences, and in private workshops for decades. Clients have gone on to attend graduate programs, to self-publish, and to become traditionally published authors of acclaimed short stories, novels, and nonfiction at major publishing houses; some have become bestselling authors and prizewinners. I have an M.F.A. in fiction from the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a B.A. in religious studies from Oberlin College.
Lilli de Jong was a Kindle bestseller for several lovely days! The novel was reviewed in over a hundred publications, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, Library Journal, The Millions, Shelf Awareness, and HuffPost.
Novel
—Lilli de Jong, the fictional diary of an unwed Quaker mother in 1883 Philadelphia, was published in hardcover by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday in 2017 and released in audio book, e-book, large print, and paperback.
Selected Nonfiction
—“What Makes a Story ‘Big’ or ‘Small’?” in Signature Reads. (Read here.)
—“7 Works of Historical Fiction That Changed Me,” on Knopf Doubleday Reading Group Center.
—“Stories Have Made Me Who I Am,” on Read Her Like an Open Book.
—“The Power of a Diary,” on Read Her Like an Open Book.
—“In storytelling, finding joy and understanding,” Sunday Commentary section, in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
—Essay on how sensory data makes readers care, in Signature: Making Well-Read Sense of the World (read here).
—“In the Name of Fairness, Don’t Erase Women’s History,” in the Philadelphia Inquirer (read here).
—“A Feminist’s Daughter Finds Love in the Kitchen,” in the New York Times.
Documentary Films
—Script co-writer and team member for “Promise for a Better City (1944-1964).” Episode 3 in the series Philadelphia: The Great Experiment. Aired on 6ABC.
—Script editor and team member for “Fever: 1793.” Episode 2 in the series Philadelphia: The Great Experiment. Aired on 6ABC. Winner of three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
—Interviewer and consultant for series on Philadelphia women’s history.
