Jane Simpson lives in southern New Brunswick, where she writes fiction and poetry. She is a Writers' Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) short fiction and poetry prize winner and has been shortlisted for Arc Poetry's Poem of the Year.
Jane's short story, "The Smoke Shed," is published in Grain Magazine's spring 2021 issue, and another of her short stories, "The Bedclothes Baby," is published in Riddle Fence issue #38 and was translated by Sonya Malaborza for inclusion in a French language anthology of Canadian short stories.
Jane has been awarded creation grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the New Brunswick Arts Board to write the first draft of her current project, a novel set on White Head Island, New Brunswick, where she spent much of her childhood.
Jane is also the founding Executive and Artistic Director of AX, the Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex and was at the helm of the highly successful charitable arts organization until 2023, when she left to pursue a full time writing career. During her time at the centre, she worked closely with volunteers and other stakeholders to launch the multi-disciplinary arts centre in 2016, and helped create a vibrant literary program that hosted such acclaimed Canadian authors as Anne-Marie MacDonald, David Adams Richards, Gerard Collins, Omar El Akkad, Beth Powning, Sheree Fitch, Sean Michaels, Shandi Mitchell, and Alexander MacLeod, among others.
Jane is the co-owner and operator of Go and Write!, offering writing retreats with her partner in business and in life, fellow author Gerard Collins.
Photo credit: Gerard Collins.