Jodi Lynn Picoult (born 1966) is an American writer. She has written 28 novels and short stories, and has also contributed to several issues of Wonder Woman. Around 40 million copies of her books are printed worldwide, and they have been translated into 34 languages. In 2003, she received the New England Bookseller Award for fiction.

Picoult writes popular fiction that often includes family stories. These stories frequently focus on difficult choices involving right and wrong or stories that follow a process or investigation, which sometimes create conflicts between family members. Over her career, Picoult has written about many challenging or moral topics, such as abortion, the Holocaust, assisted suicide, race relations, eugenics, LGBT rights, fertility issues, religion, the death penalty, and school shootings. Picoult does not consider herself a critically successful author. Instead, she has been described by Janet Maslin as "a solid, lively storyteller, even if she occasionally bogs down in lyrical turns of phrase."

Early life

Jodi Picoult was born in Nesconset, New York, on Long Island in 1966. She has one younger brother. She finished school at Smithtown High School East in June 1983. She says her family is "non-practicing Jewish." Picoult wrote her first story at age five, titled "The Lobster Which Misunderstood." Her mother and grandmother were both teachers, and she says they had a big influence on her.

Education

Picoult studied creative writing at Princeton University with Mary Morris and graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She completed a 320-page paper titled "Developments" as part of her degree. While in college, she published two short stories in Seventeen magazine. After graduating, she worked in many different jobs, such as editing textbooks and teaching eighth-grade English. She later received a master's degree in education from Harvard University.

Picoult has been awarded two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees: one from Dartmouth College in 2010 and another from the University of New Haven in 2012. In 2016, she was chosen to speak at Princeton's Class Day ceremony before graduation.

Career

In 2007, Picoult began writing for DC Comics with the Wonder Woman (vol. 3) series after Allan Heinberg left the project. Her first issue, number 6, was released on March 28, 2007, and her final issue, number 10, was published on June 27, 2007.

Also in 2007, her novel Nineteen Minutes, which tells the story of life in a small town after a school shooting, was released on March 9, 2007. This was her first book to reach number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Later, her books Change of Heart (2008), Handle with Care (2009), and House Rules (2010) also reached number 1 on the same list.

Picoult’s books are sometimes labeled as "chick-lit," a term that is not always respected. She has said she is willing to accept less critical praise in exchange for more readers. She explained, "I will not win major literary awards, but I want more people to read my books. I hope readers will see that my writing is good."

In November 2019, Picoult became involved in a public disagreement with Brooke Nelson, a college student. Nelson had said that books by author Sarah Dessen were not suitable for a university program and suggested including Just Mercy, a memoir by Bryan Stevenson. Picoult called Nelson’s comments "sinister" and "demeaning to women" and encouraged her followers to "fight the patriarchy." After media outlets like Jezebel, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Slate reported the incident, Picoult apologized on Twitter and acknowledged her words had caused harm to Nelson.

In 2024, Picoult released By Any Other Name, a novel that suggests the poet Emilia Lanier may have written works usually credited to William Shakespeare. The book proposes that the name "William Shakespeare" was a shared identity for many writers. Picoult described this as a "literary in-joke" and argued that the widely accepted idea that Shakespeare wrote all his works is incorrect. However, many Shakespeare experts disagreed with her claims.

Advocacy

Since 2013, Picoult has been a member of the first Writers Council of the National Writing Project, an organization that helps writing teachers improve their skills and gives more chances for young people who are not often heard to write and share stories about issues that matter to them. Picoult is also on the advisory board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, a nonprofit group that works to make sure more women and other underrepresented groups are included in literature.

In 2023, Picoult spoke out against book bans in the United States, especially in Florida. In March of that year, 92 books—20 of which were written by Picoult—were taken out of Florida’s Martin County School District for review because they were said to have "inappropriate" content. Other authors whose books were removed included Judy Blume, Toni Morrison, and Angie Thomas.

In an article, Picoult argued that books labeled as "adult romance" actually discuss important topics like racism, abortion rights, gun control, and gay rights. She said these books help young people think for themselves.

In the summer of 2023, the Urbandale Community School District in Iowa reviewed Picoult’s book Nineteen Minutes under a new law that bans books with descriptions of sex acts from school libraries. The book, which is about a school shooting, was one of 374 books considered for removal. According to PEN America, Nineteen Minutes was one of the most banned books during the 2023–2024 school year.

In 2024, Picoult worked with the group Unite Against Book Bans to organize events during a book tour. At these events, speakers talked about library censorship and gave resource kits to attendees.

In 2004, Picoult helped start Trumbull Hall Troupe with Marjorie Rose to create fun and educational theatre experiences for young people in the Upper Valley. The troupe includes students in grades six through twelve, who are chosen through an audition process.

In its early years, the troupe performed original plays written by Picoult and composed by the troupe’s former musical director, Ellen Wilbur. Since 2016, the troupe has performed licensed musicals and gives all the money earned after expenses to charities.

In addition to performances, troupe members participate in CHAD Hero, an annual 5K race for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, write letters to orphans in Zimbabwe through the Zienzele Foundation, and teach theatre workshops for children at the Upper Valley Haven. Over the past ten years, Trumbull Hall Troupe has raised more than $250,000 for its charities.

Honors and awards

• Received the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction in 2003
• Won the Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association in 2005
• Earned the Book Browse Diamond Award for novel of the year in 2005
• Received the Lifetime Achievement Award for mainstream fiction from the Romance Writers of America
• Won the Fearless Fiction Award from Cosmopolitan magazine in 2007
• Named Waterstone's Author of the Year in the UK
• Received the Vermont Green Mountain Book Award in 2007
• Won the New Hampshire Granite State Book Award
• Received the Virginia Reader's Choice Award in 2007
• Earned the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award in 2006
• Won the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award in 2007
• Received the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit from 2013–14
• Listed on the Princeton Alumni Weekly Our Most Influential Alumni list
• Named a Sarah Josepha Hale Award Medalist in 2019

Personal life

Picoult is married to Timothy Warren van Leer, who she met in college. They live in Hanover, New Hampshire. They have three children and two grandchildren. Picoult has published two books with her daughter Samantha.

Recurring characters

• Jordan McAfee, his son Thomas, and his wife, Selena, appear in the novels The Pact, Salem Falls, Nineteen Minutes, and Mad Honey (2022).
• Detective Patrick Ducharme appears in Perfect Match and Nineteen Minutes. Picoult has said she included this character in a second novel because she had a crush on him.
• Ian Fletcher from Keeping Faith makes a brief appearance in Change of Heart, published in 2008.
• Frankie Martine, first introduced in Salem Falls, returns in Second Glance and Perfect Match.
• Nina Frost, a main character in Perfect Match, appears briefly in Nineteen Minutes.
• Peter Houghton, a main character in Nineteen Minutes, is mentioned briefly in House Rules and Mad Honey.

Regarding recurring characters, Picoult once said, "It is always fun to bring a character back because you can learn about their life and do not have to start over—you already know how they speak, act, and think."

Film and television adaptations

• The Pact (2002) (a movie made specifically for Lifetime)
• Plain Truth (2004) (a movie made specifically for Lifetime)
• The Tenth Circle (2008) (a movie made specifically for Lifetime)
• My Sister's Keeper (2009) (a full-length movie shown in theaters)
• Salem Falls (2011) (a movie made specifically for Lifetime) /think