Liska Jacobs

Instructor Biography: 

Liska Jacobs, M.F.A., is the author of three novels, Catalina, The Worst Kind of Want, and The Pink Hotel, all published by MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The Pink Hotel was a national bestseller and named one of Esquire’s best novels of 2022; Catalina was featured in People Magazine, and The Worst Kind of Want appeared on the long-list for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Literary Award. Jacobs has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times. Her fourth novel, MEW, is forthcoming from FSG. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, Literary Hub, The Millions, Hobart, ZYZZYVA, and Joyland, among others. She teaches novel writing at UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program and serves on the faculty and steering committee of the Berlin Writers’ Workshop. 

Instructor Statement: 

Jean Rhys said, “To give life shape—that is what a writer does.” I believe this is true regardless of genre, whether its nonfiction or fiction. To do this we need to learn the fundamentals of good storytelling and develop our critical eye. In doing so we can find our authentic voice, which is unique to each of us. Think of the writer as the bewildered self, inherently alone, journeying outwards in hopes of a deeper understanding. And this is the reader too. It’s how “I” becomes a vehicle for “you.” The transference of the universal. Incommunicable except through the gravity of the written word. Learning to be this honest in our writing takes courage. But if we engage with the work and are prepared to learn through doing, then we just might hit that sweet spot where one person’s humanity reflects the world’s.