Jennifer Rieger is a public educator and college professor in the Philadelphia area. An advocate for her students and graduates, she dedicates her time to empowering others through reading, writing, and acts of love. Jen has been honored with the Franklin Institute 2020 Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2021 Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Teaching Award, and was a semi-finalist for the Pennsylvania Department of Education Teacher of the Year.

Along with a nomination for the 2020 and 2022 Pushcart Prize for Literature, Jen has also been published in Chautauqua Literary Journal, Wisconsin Review, BUST Magazine, Philadelphia Stories 15th Anniversary Anthology, and Minerva Rising’s 10th Anniversary “Now and Then” Anthology, among others. In 2022, Minerva Rising Press published her collection of lyrical essays, Burning Sage– a teacher and mother’s quest of learning when to hold onto the past, and when to let go. 

Jen holds a BA in English, an MA in English Literature, an MFA in Creative Writing and lives in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. When she’s not dealing with the anxieties (and joys!) of hundreds of teenagers, Jen can be found hiking in the woods, playing cornhole on a beach, or weeping over every beautiful sunset.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MsJRiegs!