Jay Varner

Jay Varner is a Lecturer at James Madison University's School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication since 2012. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (2007) and a B.A. in Creative Writing from Susquehanna University (2003). His primary research focus centers on climate change and the evolving natural world, expressed through creative nonfiction and memoir.

• Education:
• M.F.A., Creative Nonfiction, University of North Carolina Wilmington (2007)
• B.A., Creative Writing, Susquehanna University (2003)

His work spans literary journals and anthologies, including Twenty-First-Century Southern Writers (2021) and One for the Road: An Anthology of Road Trip Writing (2020). He authored the memoir Nothing Left to Burn (2010). His writing frequently explores intersections between environmental change, personal narrative, and cultural observation.

Notable publications include essays in Bomb, Georgetown Review, and Oxford American Magazine, alongside online platforms like McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.