Jodi Lynn Picoult (/ˈpiːkoʊ/PEE-koh; born 1966) is an American writer. As of 2026[update], Picoult has published 30 novels, several short stories, and has also written several issues of Wonder Woman. Approximately 40 million copies of her books are in print worldwide and have been translated into 34 languages. In 2003, she was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction.
Picoult was born in Nesconset, New York, on Long Island in 1966. She has one younger brother. She graduated from Smithtown High School East in June 1983. She has described her family as "non-practicing Jewish". Picoult wrote her first story at age five, titled "The Lobster Which Misunderstood". Picoult's mother and grandmother were both teachers and had an important influence on her.
Education
Picoult studied creative writing at Princeton University with Mary Morris, and graduated in 1987 with an A.B. in English after completing a senior thesis titled Developments. She published two short stories in Seventeen magazine while still in college. Immediately after graduation, she began a variety of jobs, ranging from editing textbooks to teaching eighth-grade English. She earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
Picoult has received two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees: one from Dartmouth College in 2010, the other from the University of New Haven in 2012. In 2016, Picoult was selected to be Princeton's Class Day Speaker before commencement.
Career
Picoult expanded her writing beyond novels in 2007 when she became the writer of the DC Comics series Wonder Woman (vol. 3), following the departure of Allan Heinberg. Her first issue, number 6, was released on March 28, 2007, and her last was issue number 10, released on June 27, 2007.[citation needed]
That same year, her novel Nineteen Minutes, which is about the aftermath of a school shooting in a small town, published on March 9, 2007, was her first book to debut at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Change of Heart was published on March 4, 2008, Handle with Care in 2009, and House Rules in 2010, all of which also reached number 1 on the list.
Picoult's work is often categorized as chick lit. She has claimed to accept a lack of critical acclaim in exchange for popularity: "I'm never going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, not going to win a National Book Award, never even going to be nominated. What you trade for that is sales and readership. And I would rather reach more people."
In November 2019, Picoult was involved in a widely reported online controversy with Brooke Nelson, a college student who was mentioned in her local newspaper as saying she thought that author Sarah Dessen's YA novels were not suitable for the Common Read program run by Northern State University, Aberdeen. Instead she advocated for the inclusion of Just Mercy, a memoir by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Picoult described Nelson's views as "sinister" and "demeaning to women", and encouraged her followers on Twitter to "fight the patriarchy" in response to Nelson's comments. When the story was reported in Jezebel, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Slate, Picoult posted an apology on Twitter, noting that her remarks had resulted in harassment of Nelson.
Her 2024 novel By Any Other Name is based on the premise that the poet Emilia Lanier was the author of several works traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare. In the publication of the book, Picoult raises alternate theories of Shakespeare authorship, claiming that the name "William Shakespeare" functioned as a collective identity for many different types of authors. Picoult characterizes Shakespeare's identity as a literary in-joke whose context was lost over time, and argues that the widely accepted Stratfordian Shakespeare could not have written the protofeminist characters in many of his works. The novel's premise was widely rejected by Shakespearean historians.
Advocacy
Representation in literary arts
Since 2013, Picoult has been member of the inaugural Writers Council of the National Writing Project, an organization that aims to provide professional development opportunities for writing teachers and expand opportunities for underrepresented youths to write and publish about topics important to them. Picoult was also a member of the advisory board of feminist nonprofit VIDA: Women in Literary Arts.
Book banning
Throughout 2023, Picoult was an outspoken critic of book bannings across the United States, particularly Florida. In March of that year, 92 titles—20 of which were authored by Picoult—were removed from Florida's Martin County School District for review for potentially "inappropriate" content.
In an op-ed, Picoult challenged the characterization of such books as "adult romance," arguing that they address topics such as racism, abortion rights, gun control, and gay rights, "that encourage kids to think for themselves."
During the summer of 2023, the Urbandale Community School District in Iowa reviewed her novel Nineteen Minutes under a new law banning books with sex acts from school libraries. The book, which focuses on a school shooting, was one of 374 books considered by the district for removal. According to PEN America, Nineteen Minutes was one of the most banned books during the 2023–2024 academic year.
In 2024, Picoult worked with the organization Unite Against Book Bans on a series of book tour events, where speakers focused on the issue of book censorship and provided resource kits to attendees.
Trumbull Hall Troupe
In 2004, Picoult co-founded Trumbull Hall Troupe with Marjorie Rose to provide a fun, educational theater experience for youths in the Upper Valley, while also supporting charitable causes. The troupe consists of students in grades ranging from six through twelve, who are selected through an audition process. In its early years, the troupe, performed original shows written by Picoult and composed by the troupe's former musical director Ellen Wilbur. Since 2016, the troupe has performed licensed musicals and donates 100 percent of net proceeds to its charities.
In addition to performances, troupe members run in CHAD Hero, an annual 5K race for Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, write to orphans in Zimbabwe through the Zienzele Foundation, and run theater workshops for children at the Upper Valley Haven.
Picoult is married to Timothy Warren van Leer, whom she met in college. They reside in Hanover, New Hampshire. They have three children and three grandchildren. Picoult has published two books with her daughter Samantha.
↑"Jodi Picoult: Leaving Time". Nat Geo Live. National Geographic. December 1, 2014. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
↑Hamilton, Geoff; Jones, Brian (2010). Encyclopedia of contemporary writers and their works. Facts on File library of world literature. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc. ISBN978-1-4381-2970-9.
.jpg)
