“You could call me Dr. Dreadful. But I’m not that kind of doctor.”
Jilly Dreadful first appeared in 2009, when Mary Karr chose to include “Zoology No. 1,” in Flatmancrooked’s Slim Volume of Contemporary Poetics.
I completed my Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature at University of Southern California under the guidance of Aimee Bender where I specialized in new media and feminist science fiction. My first book, Cosmobiological: Stories, was the winner of Sundress Publications 2020 Prose Manuscript contest and will be published in the spring of 2021.
I am an associate member of SFWA, and my stories have appeared in places such as Lightspeed Magazine; Rough Magick edited by Francesca Lia Block and Jessa Marie Mendez, and She Walks in Shadows—winner of the World Fantasy Award in the anthology category. My work has received honorable mentions for Best Sci-Fi of the year and has been longlisted by Ellen Datlow for Best Horror of the Year.
The Spectral Dollhouse, a book-length work of digital storytelling and narrative transmography, was published by The New River, which is archived by the Library of Congress for important cultural contributions of digital texts. I also wrote the libretto for Light & Power: A Tesla/Edison Story, a chamber opera with music composed by Isaac Schankler, which was performed in Boston by the Juventas New Music Ensemble.
I am the founder of The Brainery: Online Speculative Fiction Workshops + Resources, where I taught science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing workhops. The Brainery has been featured on Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy, Wired.com, among others. I am currently taking a hiatus from teaching.
I live in Atlanta with my husband and son.
CV
Education
Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing, Gender Studies Certificate, University of Southern California, 2012.
M.A. in English, University of Southern California, 2008.
B.A. in English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2004.
Publications
Short Fiction
“5x5,” Lightspeed Magazine, 2016.
“Persephone + Hades,” Rough Magick, Dangerous Angel, 2015.
“De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae,” She Walks in Shadows, Innsmouth Free Press, 2015.
“The Mermaid Cafe,” Devilfish Review, December 2014.
“Mooncakes,” NonBinary Review, September 2014.
“Haunted Phonograph,” Penny Dreadful Sketchbook Project, May 2014.
New Media
The Spectral Dollhouse, The New River, Fall 2013.
v+v: a love story between cyborgs, The Fiction Project/Art House, 2013.
Scholarly Articles
“The Cyborg in the Basement Manifesto, or a Frankenstein of One’s Own: How I Stopped Hunting for Cyborgs and Created the Slightly Irregular Definition of Cyborgean Forms of Storytelling,” Ada: Journal of Gender, New Media and Technology, November 2013.
“Living Appendages of the Machine: Reproducing Sex and Gender in Cyborg and Zombie Narratives from Battlestar Galactica to The Walking Dead,” The Monster Imagined: Humanity’s Recreation of Monsters and Monstrosity, Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010.
“Living Appendages of the Machine: Reproducing Sex and Gender in Cyborg and Zombie Narratives from Battlestar Galactica to The Walking Dead,” Creating Humanity, Discovering Monstrosity: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil, Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011.
Late Victorian Gothic Tales in Monsters and the Monstrous, volume 1, number 1, 2011, Inter- Disciplinary Press (book review).
Edited Anthologies
Creating Humanity, Discovering Monstrosity: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil, Nelson, E., [Dreadful], J., Priest, H., eds. Inter-disciplinary Press, 2010.
Opera Libretto
Light & Power: A Tesla/Edison Story, May 2011. Chamber opera, musical score composed by Isaac Schankler Commissioned by Boston Opera Collaborative (BOC) Performed by Juventas New Music Ensemble in Boston.
Exhibitions
“The Spectral Dollhouse,” Wired Kingdom, The Arts Center, Troy, NY, September 2012.
“The Spectral Dollhouse,” The Fence Salon, The Arts Center, Troy, NY, July 2012.
Poetry
“Zoology #1,” Flatmancrooked’s Slim Volume of Contemporary Poetics, chosen by Mary Karr, 2010.
Song Sequences
“Fierce,” Isaac Schankler (composer). Sharp (three art songs) for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, & cello. Performed by Juventas Concert Cycle No. 1, Boston, 2008.
“Sharp,” Isaac Schankler (composer) . Performed by the Contemporary Music Ensemble, Los Angeles, 2007.
“Recently Living Rabbits,” Ben Phelps (composer), art song re-titled as “Zoology.” Performed by the Contemporary Music Ensemble, Los Angeles, 2006.
Competitive Fellowships
Nominated for The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards Fellowship, 2016.
Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship, USC, 2011-2012.
Continuing Fellowship for Literature and Creative Writing, USC, 2009-2010.
Fisher Center Predoctoral Fellowship in Gender & Animation, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 2008-2009.
Honors and Awards
Winner of Sundress Publications 2020 Prose Manuscript contest.
Honorable Mention for The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighth Annual Collection, 2016.
Honorable Mention for The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection, 2016.
Longlisted for Best Horror of the Year, 2016.
Tribeca Film Institute, Interactive Storytelling Lab Detroit, 2016.
Pushcart Prize Nomination, NonBinary Review, 2014.
TribecaHacks /Hardware/ Grant, Tribeca Film Institute, 2014.
Finalist, Flatmancrooked’s Slim Volume of Contemporary Poetics, 2010.
Honorable Mention, Short Story Award for New Writers, Glimmer Train, 2010.
Top 25 for Very Short Fiction, Glimmer Train, 2010.
Graduate Student Professionalization Initiative Grant for Animation to Reanimation: Monsters, Myths and Media, USC, 2009-2010.
Mildred Fox Hanson Award, USC, 2007, 2008, 2009.
W. Moses Graduate Grant in Creative Writing, Honorable Mention, 2006, 2007, 2008.
Virginia Middleton Summer Award, USC, 2006.