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Short bio
J.E. Teitsworth is a writer of contemporary fiction rooted in the rural Midwest. His work focuses on ordinary people navigating hard choices, deep ties, and the quiet struggles of everyday life. A former tech worker with a background in factory and service jobs, Teitsworth draws on a wide range of lived experience to write honest, character-driven stories. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Flyover Country Literary Magazine, Blanket Gravity, and Down in the Dirt. He lives in southeast Iowa, where he also teaches writing and publishing workshops. More at jeteitsworth.com
Long Bio
J.E. Teitsworth writes about ordinary people navigating hard choices, deep ties, and the quiet struggles of everyday life. His stories dig into social disconnection, mental health, and losing a way of life. His aim is simple: to write books that keep you turning pages and leave you seeing the world a little differently.
He earned his MFA in Creative Writing while raising a family and working full time. Along the way, he self-published a collection of short fiction and placed stories in Flyover Country Literary Magazine, Down in the Dirt, and Blanket Gravity Magazine. During grad school, he founded a local writing group and began mentoring other writers who’ve since published their own work. Today, he teaches writing workshops at a local college and works one-on-one with writers to help them shape and share their stories.
Teitsworth’s path to writing wasn’t a straight one. After his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, he left behind a string of low-wage jobs to break into the tech industry—seeking a steady salary and health insurance. He built a successful career, but never felt like he belonged. What he really wanted was to create. He’d studied music and English in his early twenties while working in factories, bakeries, retail stores, and warehouses. Those years taught him how people talk and what they value—lessons that still shape his voice on the page.
He now lives with his wife and youngest daughter in southeast Iowa, where he fishes, kayaks, and walks along the Mississippi. As an autistic writer, he’s especially attuned to quiet moments, sensory details, and the subtle patterns of human behavior. More at jeteitsworth.com