Valerie Seiling Jacobs is the author of “Packing for the Ineffable,” which was published in The New York Times and relates her family’s experiences during a son’s tour of duty in Iraq.
Her cultural commentary and essays on politics, the environment, and family matters have appeared in national and local publications. In 2012, Ms. Jacobs’ essay “The Appealing Earnestness of ‘Say Yes to the Dress‘” was featured in The Atlantic. (To read the essay, click here.)
Ms. Jacobs is also the author of “A Better Place,” which was selected by Creative Nonfiction from among almost five hundred submissions for inclusion in its anthology Twelve Breaths a Minute: End-of-Life Essays.
In 2013, her profile of Norman Dorsen, the former president of the ACLU, appeared in Columbia University’s alumni magazine. (To read it, click here.) She is also the author of “Brain Doping,” an essay on the use of ADHD drugs by adolescents, which was the feature story in a special issue of Brain, Child, a literary publication known as “The Magazine for Thinking Mothers.”
In 2009, her essay “The Million Dollar View” took top honors in a contest for Connecticut writers and was published in Weston Magazine. The essay, which recounts the story of selling her father’s house on Staten Island, was also performed live at the Westport Arts Center and later broadcast on public radio.
She is the creator of the B.O.L.D.© Writing Method (i.e., be Brief, Organized, Logical, and Dynamic), which she teaches to lawyers in public and in-house legal writing seminars.
WRAB Paris Conference!
In February 2014, Valerie presented the results of her ongoing academic research at the Writing Research Across Borders (WRAB) international conference, which was held at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre... Read more…Read Valerie’s Profile of Norm...
Valerie recently wrote a profile of Norman Dorsen, the famous civil libertarian and former president of the American Civil Liberties Union. The essay appears in the Spring issue of Columbia College Today. To... Read more…Read an Interview with Valerie
The editors at Creative Nonfiction recently interviewed Ms. Jacobs about how she researched and wrote “A Better Place,” which is included in CN’s anthology At the End of Life: True Stories... Read more…Examined Life Conference
In April 2012, Ms. Jacobs will lead a panel entitled “End of Life Narratives: Lessons for Living, Caring, & Letting Go” at the The Examined Life Conference sponsored by the University of Iowa... Read more…The Paperback is Out!
On March 27, 2012, Creative Nonfiction released At the End of Life: True Stories of How We Die, a collection of essays about death and dying that includes “A Better Place” by Ms. Jacobs. As one... Read more…Just Published!
On March 31, 2011, Valerie's essay "A Better Place" was published in a collection of essays entitled Twelve Breaths a Minute. The book, a collaboration between SMU Press and Creative Nonfiction, contains twenty-three essays on "End of Life." Read more…
Valerie Seiling Jacobs holds an MFA in Nonfiction from Columbia University and a B.S. and J.D. from Cornell University. Before turning to teaching and writing, she practiced law for more than two decades.
In 2014, Ms. Jacobs joined the faculty at Columbia University, where she teaches writing, conducts workshops, and works as a consultant in the Writing Center. She also conducts private seminars (often for CLE credit) for attorneys and professionals who wish to improve their writing skills.
Ms. Jacobs is currently working on a nonfiction book about a man who has been on death row in Alabama for more than 25 years.