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Janine Kovac

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Janine Kovac (she/her) writes about power dynamics and women's bodies. Her work has appeared in Under the Sun, Bellingham Review, Jet Fuel Review, Pangyrus, New Ohio Review, Writer's Digest, Publishers Weekly, Santa Fe Writers Project and elsewhere.

A former professional ballet dancer, Janine trained at San Francisco Ballet and in Ghent Belgium before embarking on a twelve-year career dancing in Iceland, Italy, Austria, San Francisco, and in her hometown of El Paso, Texas.

After retiring from the stage, Janine graduated magna cum laude from U.C. Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in cognitive science. Her distinctions include the Glushko Prize for Distinguished Research in Cognitive Science, the Elizabeth George Foundation Fellowship from Hedgebrook, the Calderwood Fellowship for Journalism from MacDowell, a New Millennium Writings Award for Nonfiction, and the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Award. She is the recipient of a Courage to Write "Writer of Note" grant from the de Groot Foundation and her fiction is sponsored by Fractured Atlas.

Janine is the author of Brain Changer: A Mother's Guide to Cognitive Science and Spinning: Choreography for Coming Home. Spinning was a semifinalist for Publishers Weekly's BookLife Prize and a winner of the National Indie Excellence Awards. Her memoir The Nutcracker Chronicles intertwines The Nutcracker ballet with the true life stories that unfold backstage, and is forthcoming from She Writes Press in October 2024.

In addition to dancing, writing, and parenting, Janine teaches Scrivener workshops to writers of all levels. She lives in Northern California with her family. Follow her on Goodreads and Substack.

Photo by Terry Lorant

Website: https://www.janinekovac.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janine.kovac.writer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janine.kovac/