Discover Your Next Favorite Author

Jacqueline Renée

Renée is a novelist of memory, grit, and grace. Her debut novel, Leaving Woodstock (Kensington, 2026), follows a runaway teen’s search for her father at the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival and the unexpected family and self she discovers along the way.

She writes the kinds of stories she loves to read, and that means they’re rooted in the South, layered with strong women, tangled families, and the places that shape us. Her voice is vivid and lyrical, laced with humor, heartache, and a touch of grit.

Renée holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Childrens Literature from Hollins University. She is a two-time winner of the Hollins University Shirley Henn Excellence in Creative Writing Award, a winner of the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop Scholarship at Chautauqua, and a finalist for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Award. She has published in Beginnings Literary Journal and The Dead Mule School of Southern Fiction.

A woman with blonde curly hair smiling outdoors with a blurred natural background.

My Thoughts on Writing & Life

A group of four people hugging at a graduation ceremony. Two men and a woman wearing graduation gowns are embracing an older woman. They are smiling and standing in front of a podium with a Virginia Tech sign.
A woman and a young girl sitting together on a beige outdoor sofa, wearing sunglasses, with a large shopping bag nearby, in front of a house with white siding and black window shutters.
Rocking Chairs on Porch
book cover

Contact Me

Stories are built on connection—and so is this page.

If something resonated with you, or you'd like to talk books, craft, or creative collaboration, I’d be glad to hear from you.