Story of An Artist

Jenna Cornell was born and raised in the Midwest. She first started writing at age nine and hasn’t looked back. Jenna has an MFA in Creative/Professional Writing and also holds an MA in English/Creative Writing with a screenwriting emphasis. She is an active writer, visual artist, musician, filmmaker, and radio personality.  With ten years teaching writing and communications at the college level, Jenna  focuses on helping companies and individuals create polished communication, so they can build strong relationships internally and externally.

 

She writes in a variety of areas including fiction, poetry, film, songwriting, play writing, and journalism.
 

As a fiction writer, Jenna explores crime-based thrillers, human behavior, science fiction, and speculative - all with a strong female character. On the flip side, she also writes Hallmark-type short stories with a struggling character who finds a heartfelt resolve. While she loves both sides, her favorite of the two is diving into the darkness. Jenna's most recent short story, “Mastering the Fine Art of Time Management”, was published in The Remembered Arts Journal in 2017. “Mastering” was also turned into a short screenplay titled Navigating Home which was accepted at the Austin Micro Short Film Festival in 2020.
 

Jenna started writing poetry in high school and loves the art form. Her poetry incorporates nature throughout. This common theme can be found in her poems no matter what style of poetry she is writing or the idea. Jenna’s poems have been published in several print and online publications including Mirrored Voices: Best Modern Poets (Vol 4), Sheepshead Review, Blaze Vox, and Northern Lights Journal. Her first collection of poems Fantastic Illusions of Life, Love, the Birds, and the Bees was published in 2015 with a second Honeycomb Edition published in 2020 through Barnes and Noble. One of her spoken word poems, "Words", was turned into a short film.
 

A huge fan of the silver screen, Jenna also writes screenplays. Like her fiction work, she writes films that dive into the darkness of human nature but also loves those that hint at heartfelt resolve and comedy. In 2018, her spoken-word film, Words, premiered at Wildwood Film Festival and then won the Best Experimental International Award at the 300 Seconds Short Film Festival in 2019. Sticking to her love of the dark side of humanity, she wrote a short screenplay called Hunk of Burning Love. It entered the Top 50 Quarterfinals in the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition in 2014 and is still gaining traction in 2021 by becoming an official selection in several film festivals and screenwriting contests. She is currently working on a variety of screenplay and film projects.
 

Jenna’s written work focuses on the beauty of language and what it evokes in the reader. Words are what make or break any story, poem, or film, and she is passionate about passing that knowledge along to others. She also has a strong interest in the symbiotic relationship between artistic creation and humanity. One cannot exist without the other. Art is how people learn about themselves and the world around them.

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Writing isn't her only creative endeavor, though. Multi-talented, Jenna is also an amateur photographer, painter, radio DJ, and musician. When she isn’t creating, she can be found spending time with her family, gardening, cooking, exploring nature, or woodworking.