Jensen, Britta: - Britta Jensen's debut YA novel Eloia Born won the 2019 Writer's League of Texas YA Discovery Prize and was long-listed for the 2016 Exeter Novel Prize. Reviewers called the book "both a dystopian narrative and a quest story; consider it a spiritual successor to Lois Lowry's The Giver and M. Night Shyamalan's The Village." Subsequent publications include Hirana's War, Ghosts of Yokosuka as well as short stories in Mixed Bag of Tricks, The Castle of Horror Anthology vol 6, as well as other anthologies. Her stories explore themes of persevering through disability, parental separation, and the intersection of love and various cultures on new worlds. She earned a BA in Acting Performance from Fordham University and an MA in Teaching of English Literature from Columbia University. For the past twenty-two years she has taught creative writing and edited books for both traditional and indie authors. She has received numerous awards, including the General Sharp Award from the US Army, for her innovative teaching of creative writing in New York City, South Korea and Germany. Friends often refer to her as a polyglot-which is a product of living twenty-two years overseas in Japan, South Korea, and Germany before settling in Austin, Texas. She enjoys mentoring writers and editing books with The Writing Consultancy and Yellowbird Editors. In her spare time, she dances with her awesome tailor husband, and volunteers with the Relief Society, SCBWI and the Writer's League of Texas. Join her mailing list at brittajensen.com to get free writing advice and learn more about her writing process!