Wendy has a BA from Amherst College, an MFA in creative writing from Oregon State University, and a PhD in English with a creative dissertation from the University of Nebraska. She’s taught dozens of creative writing, literature, and composition courses at Oregon State, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Washington State - Tri-Cities, and the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension and worked in editorial positions with the literary journals Split Lip Magazine, Fairy Tale Review, Memorious Magazine, Quarterly West, and Prairie Schooner. Wendy has served as a jurist, manuscript reviewer, and contest judge for a number of university presses, literary journals, and fellowship-granting organizations.

Thank you for your interest in Wendy Oleson. Please scan the listing below for relevant information about Wendy.

If you are Wendy’s Father, see number one.

If you are Aimee Bender, see number two.

If you are Reading to Confirm You’re More Accomplished than Wendy, see number three.

If you are Wendy’s Former Teacher, see number four.

If you are Wendy’s Student, see number five.

If you are Looking for a Conventional Bio, see number six.

If you are Shannon, Leslie, or Lindsay Calderone, see number seven.

If you are Old Enough to Enjoy Cocktails Legally and Responsibly, see number eight.

If you are Even Still Reading, see number nine.

1. No, Dad, the Pulitzer committee still hasn’t called. (Is that really what happens? They call? I assumed the news would come to my front door in the form of a giant cardboard check. Did you know I was born on the same day as Ed McMahan?)

2.Yes. I also wish I were Aimee Bender. Let’s do the second best thing and watch her read her work.

3. It’s no contest! You, dear soul, have won at life, but I have the world’s most adorable dog (far and away my greatest achievement). Follow him on Instagram: gr8winstoni. 

4. THANK YOU. I loved school, likely loved you, and certainly hoped you loved me. If you didn’t love me, know that sometimes I still feel sad about that. I wonder, How could I have won the heart of Mrs. Marsha Beaman? Is it too late or strange to send chocolates?

5. Really? You are here! Thank you, devoted student. While you’re visiting the interwebs, check out this useful advice for writers.

6. Wendy Oleson (MFA, PhD), is author of three award-winning chapbooks, Everywhere, Tony Danza (CutBank Books), Please Find Us (2018, Gertrude Press) and Our Daughter and Other Stories (2017, Map Literary). Her fiction has appeared in Copper Nickel, Ninth Letter, Denver Quarterly, Cimarron Review, SmokeLong Quarterly: Best of the First Ten Years, and elsewhere. Wendy teaches for the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension, Whitman College, and serves as managing editor for Split Lip Magazine. They have received grants and fellowships from Artist Trust, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hambidge Center, and the Vermont Studio Center. Wendy lives in Walla Walla, Washington.

7. I love you, wonderful women. Leslie, your half-finished portrait of you and Lindsay as children, your hands thick as paws, one clutching a stick, inspires me. Lindsay holds you tightly to her big-sister bosom, scanning the surroundings for danger. Let’s watch out for each other always.

8. Me too! Here are a few of my spinoffs:

The Sort of (cheap to make) Sidecar
Juice of half an orange, juice of half of a lemon, two-to-three ounces of Prince D’Arignac VS Armagnac ($14.99 at Trader Joe’s, but this guy said it was bad on his blog), and a couple of ice cubes with which to shake or serve as rocks.

The Wendy (Katz)
Juice of one lime*, two ounces of gin, and half an ounce of crème de cassis. Serve on the rocks. *Substitute one clementine if you want it extra sweet.

The Park Los Feliz*
Juice of one quarter of a lemon, one ounce of limoncello, two ounces of vodka, two ounces of Trader Joe’s low-calorie pink lemonade, Shake with ice, and serve up with a twist. Splash with seltzer water (can be plain, berry, lemon, or lime flavored), and swirl with a vintage swizzle stick.
*This drink bears an accidental-though-fortuitous resemblance to the kick-in-the-pants-amazing short story collection Sweet & Low by Nick White.

9. You are a pleasant and a generous soul. Or bored. Or avoiding something of great-to-mild importance. Whatever you are, thank you.