Photo Credit: Marc Olivier Le Blanc

Full bio (see below for shorter bios):
Jenny Qi is a cross-genre writer and artist. Her debut poetry collection, Focal Point, was selected by Dustin Pearson for the 2020 Steel Toe Books Poetry Award and was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, Jake Adam York Book Prize, and Crab Orchard Poetry Series. Her essays and poems are published or forthcoming in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Rumpus, High Country News, Only Poems, San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, and elsewhere. Her photography appears in Nevada Magazine. Her paintings and clay and fiber art appear in many friends’ homes.

Jenny has received support and honors from many organizations, including Tin House, the San Francisco Writers Grotto, the San Francisco Foundation, Nomadic Press, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Kearny Street Workshop, the California Center for Cultural Innovation, and the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. She is working on a hybrid collection titled Liminal Bodies and a memoir in conversation with her late mother’s books about the Cultural Revolution in China and life in Las Vegas, NV.

A freelance content writer and strategist, Jenny holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from UCSF and has worked with organizations in diverse industries including biopharma, health tech, healthcare, ed tech, food, and sustainability.

Short bio (~100 words):
Jenny Qi is a poet, essayist, and freelance writer with a PhD in Biomedical Science. Her debut poetry collection Focal Point won the 2020 Steel Toe Books Award, and her work is published or forthcoming in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She has received support and honors from organizations including Tin House, the SF Writers Grotto, and the California Center for Cultural Innovation. She is working on a hybrid collection and a memoir in conversation with her late mother’s books about the Cultural Revolution and life in Las Vegas. 

Shorter bio (~50 words):
Jenny Qi is a cross-genre writer and artist with a PhD in Biomedical Science from UCSF. Her debut poetry collection Focal Point won the 2020 Steel Toe Books Poetry Award. Her essays are published or forthcoming in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Sierra Magazine, and The Rumpus. Her photography appears in Nevada Magazine.

Work:

Poems

Essays

Events

Teaching (↓)

Teaching:

  • Community Workshops: Rooted & Written Fellowship (2020-present), San Francisco Writers Grotto (2021-present), The Porch TN
  • Class Visits: UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Dominican University, Farmingdale State College, Mills College, Portland Community College, Herricks High School Summer Writing Program
  • Conference & Festival Presentations: AWP, Litquake Festival, Berkeley Poetry Festival, Daly City Public Library Bookfest, Beast Crawl Lit Fest, Sierra Poetry Festival, Mountain Words Literary Festival

Honors & Awards:

Fellowships & Residencies:

  • Carolyn Moore Writing Residency (2025)
  • DISQUIET International Literary Program (2024)
  • Mountain Words Writer-in-Residence (2023)
  • SWWIM / The Betsy Writer-in-Residence (2023)
  • Brown Handler Writer-in-Residence at Friends of the SFPL (2022-23)
  • SF Writers Grotto Fellow (2020)
  • Kearny Street Workshop Interdisciplinary Writers Lab (2020)
  • Tin House Winter Workshop (2020)
  • SF Writers Grotto Rooted & Written Fellow (2019) 
  • National ComSciCon Science Writing Conference (2016)

Poetry:

  • Only Poems Poet of the Year, Finalist (2025)
  • BOMB Magazine Poetry Prize, Finalist (2024)
  • Terrain Poetry Prize, Semifinalist (2024)
  • Auburn Witness Prize, Honorable Mention (2024)
  • Subnivean Poetry Prize Winner (2023)
  • Asian Art Museum “Bernice Bing: Open Call” Exhibit (2023)
  • Palette Poetry Previously Published Poem Prize Longlist (2023)
  • Janice Farrell Poetry Prize, Second Place (2022)
  • San Francisco Foundation / Nomadic Press Prize (2022)
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee (2021)

Creative Nonfiction:

  • The Rumpus Prize Finalist (2025)

Focal Point:

  • Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist (2022)
  • Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Award Finalist (2022)
  • Steel Toe Books Poetry Award Winner (2020)
  • Tupelo Press “Manuscript of Extraordinary Merit” (2020)
  • Crab Orchard Poetry Series in Poetry Finalist (2020)
  • Jake Adam York Book Prize Finalist (2017)