Writer
Writing has been a part of my life since a young age. In elementary school, I would set up a news anchor desk on our living room coffee table, complete with landline telephone and important-looking stack of papers, and read the Penguin News to our camcorder.
I earned my bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Arizona in 2006. After a brief stint as a sports reporter, I discovered I liked watching sports a lot more than writing about them. Soon after graduation, I decided to bench journalism and move marketing and communications into my starting line-up (see what I did there?).
Today, I write short fiction and dabble in prose poetry. I am intrigued by perception and how our relationships are impacted by the way we view ourselves and others. I like to catch my characters off-guard and force them to confront the unexpected (better them than me).
Production Editor/Copyeditor - Carve Magazine
In October 2017, I joined Carve Magazine as a copyeditor/proofreader, and in February 2019, became Carve’s production editor. In these roles, I am responsible for copyediting short stories, nonfiction pieces, contributor interviews, and One to Watch features prior to publication. I also build each quarterly issue in Adobe InDesign, manage our multi-stage proofreading process, and create print and digital issues for subscriber distribution. Check out my Q&A with Carve here: Meet our Production Editor, Janelle Drumwright
I also had the pleasure of serving as a guest reader for Carve Magazine's 2017 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest.
Reader - The Masters Review
I served as a reader at The Masters Review from May 2017 through December 2017, reading 10-30 fiction and creative nonfiction submissions per week to help select stories for publication.
“It’s such a treat to watch Janelle gorgeously and meticulously place each character, each detail, each word into her stories and poems, as if she’s creating a mosaic, or a Tibetan Sand painting. This level of care and attention is something we all strive for as writers, and it gives Janelle this superpower to transform the facts of everyday life, from siblings to mascots to the perils of online dating, into something that shimmers, flutters, roars. Her characters crawl inside your brain and live there, illuminating the truth of the human condition in all its sorrow and glory.”
Publications & Awards:
Reckless [flash fiction]
Necessary Fiction
April 26, 2017
Smilestone [short fiction]
Honorable Mention, Short Story Award for New Writers
Glimmer Train, January/February 2016
You, Dear Writer, are Not the Narrator [blog]
Winner, First Annual Blog Contest
Carve Magazine, October 2015
Biopsy the Day of the Boston Bombings [prose poetry]
Naugatuck River Review
Issue 14, Summer/Fall 2015
200 Stitches [flash fiction]
Mulberry Fork Review
Issue 2, September 2014