Jessica Elisheva Emerson (she, her)

Jessica Elisheva Emerson is a native Tucsonan who spent 22 years in Los Angeles before returning to the Sonoran desert where she lives with her husband and children. She comes to the festival with "Olive Days," her debut novel. Her poems and stories have been published in a number of journals, and she is also a produced playwright. Ask her about pie, her challah-braiding technique, or the recipe for a perfect Old Fashioned.       

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Awards: 2025 GLCA New Writers Award, 2025 LA Times Festival of Books Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction finalist (winner announced April), 2025 Writing the West Book Awards longlist (winner announced May), ​2025 Sophie Brody Medal Award RUSA / American Library Association Notable Book

Communities: Arizona Author, Tucsonan

Jessica Elisheva Emerson

Author signing at Stacks Book Club (booth 242)

Stacks Book Club, Booth #242 (Seats 1)  
Sat, Mar 15, 11:45 am - 12:15 pm
Fiction / Literature

Author: Jessica Elisheva Emerson

Unveiling Desire

Join Jessica Elisheva Emerson, Eowyn Ivey, and R.O. Kwon as they discuss stories that delve into the complexities of women’s desires — artistic, romantic, and spiritual — challenging societal expectations and illuminating the paths toward autonomy and fulfillment.

Modern Languages Room 350 (Seats 318, Wheelchair accessible)  
Sat, Mar 15, 2:30 pm - 3:25 pm
Fiction / Literature
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - Central Mall (following presentation)  

Panelists: Jessica Elisheva Emerson, Eowyn Ivey, R.O. Kwon
Moderator: Anne Gardner
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of The William & Mary Ross Foundation, University of Arizona - Facilities Management

Paths Taken: Women’s Lives, Choices, and Legacies

Join authors Marjan Kamali, Jessica Elisheva Emerson, and Daniel Lavery as they delve into the resilience, struggles, and transformative decisions of women navigating complex cultural, emotional, and societal landscapes.

Koffler Room 218 (Seats 142, Wheelchair accessible)  
Sun, Mar 16, 11:30 am - 12:25 pm
Fiction / Literature
Signing area: UA Campus Store Book Sales (Mall) (following presentation)  

Panelists: Jessica Elisheva Emerson, Marjan Kamali, Daniel Lavery
Moderator: Meredith Amadee
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of Visit Tucson, Mary and Robert

Workshop: Learn Good Steamy Writing

We all know a bad lusty scene when we cringe-read one, but what makes it so awful? Let's discuss how to craft desire and lust to draw readers in. We will review hilariously clumsy examples and successful scenes from literary fiction, to identify what works and what doesn't. Content warning: Explicit content.

Integrated Learning Center Room 119 (Seats 60)  
Sun, Mar 16, 4:00 pm - 4:55 pm
Fiction / Literature

Panelist: Jessica Elisheva Emerson
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity - Arizona Alpha Chapter, David and Emma Blumenthal

Book:

Olive Days

A Novel
Fiction / Literature
Catapult
September 2024
ISBN 9781640096530
320 pages

Olive Days is a completely immersive novel, unlike anything I've read. We're in so deep with Rina, as she navigates the complicated restraints of her Orthodox Jewish community, that every meal, every walk, every discovery of her possible choices feels immediate. Emerson's prose is not about religion or desire, those abstract ideas, but about a woman's burning disbelief in the very structure of her life, and her absolute insistence on sexual passion and freedom." More/less