Janet Benton
and the Word Studio

JANET BENTON has built her life around writing and helping others write compelling works. Her debut novel, LILLI DE JONG, was one of LIBRARY JOURNAL’s and NPR’s Best Books 2017 and a semifinalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards, along with other honors. Janet’s essays and other writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and elsewhere. An editor and a writers’ mentor, she has taught at five universities and in private workshops for decades. Her clients have become bestselling authors and prizewinners. She holds an M.F.A. from the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst and a B.A. from Oberlin College.

Interviews

About 25 recorded interviews, including on
WHYY’s Radio Times, Germantown Radio, WWDB, and La Salle TV.

Janet’s work has been glowingly reviewed in over a hundred publications, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, Library Journal, The Millions, Shelf Awareness, and HuffPost. It has been among top-book picks chosen by Goodreads, Amazon, Ingram, BookBub, Barnes and Noble, PureWow, Library Aware, Omnivoracious, and more.

150-plus appearances including these:

  • Festivals including Baltimore Book Festival, Colingswood Book Festival, History Book Fair, Historical Society Novel Conference, Katz JCC Festival, Salem Literary Festival, and Virginia Festival of the Book

  • Talks at schools, libraries, churches, synagogues, private clubs, museums, historical sites, and nonprofits, including Princeton Public Library, Germantown Friends School Free Library, Haverford College, Springfield College, American Association of University Women, Hadassah, St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, Alice Paul Institute, Germantown Historical Society, and Philadelphia History Museum

  • Events at bookstores along the East Coast, including the Philadelphia area’s Open Book Bookstore, Narberth Bookstore, Main Point Books, Wellington Square Bookshop, Inkwood Books, Newtown Bookshop, Doylestown Bookshop, Hockessin Bookshelf, and Capricorn Books. Highlights beyond include Shakespeare & Co. (NYC), Broadside Bookshop (MA), Watchung Booksellers (NJ), and Bethany Beach Books (DE)