Jenny L. Factor

Jenny L. Factor is a Lecturer in Poetry at California Institute of Technology since 2018, specializing in creative writing and feminist literary studies. She holds an A.B. in Anthropology from Harvard University (1991), an M.F.A. in Literature from Bennington College (2000), and is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Brandeis University (2018–present). Her teaching focuses on the En 85 Poetry Writing course, offered continuously since 2018–19.

Her research interests bridge poetry, feminist theory, and social justice, with a focus on narrative anthropology and experimental forms. Recent publications include contributions to Poetry Magazine, Paris Review, and Prairie Schooner, alongside her forthcoming book Want the Lake (Red Hen Press, 2024). Her first collection Unraveling at the Name (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) earned a Hayden Carruth Award and Lambda Literary Award nomination.

Factor actively engages in literary communities through her blog for the Best American Poetry site and Poetry Society of America. Her work has been supported by grants including the Astraea Grant in Poetry. She previously served as core faculty at Antioch University Los Angeles's MFA program, emphasizing literature and social justice integration.