Jonis Agee

Jonis Agee (May 31, 1943-) grew up in Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska. She earned her B.A. at the University of Iowa and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Agee has taught writing and literature at the college level for many years. Currently, she is the Adele Hall Professor of English at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, but she lived for many years in St. Paul where she taught at St. Catherine University. At the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Agee teaches fiction writing, creative nonfiction writing, and modern and contemporary American literature.

In addition to her teaching career, Agee has published twelve books, including novels, short story collections, and poetry collections. Many of Agee’s stories and poems are set in Missouri. She writes both contemporary fiction and historical fiction. Agee’s book The River Wife is one of her best-known books. It follows the women of the Ducharme family from the early 1800s to the 1930s. Some of her other books include South of Resurrection, Sweet Eyes, and The Bones of Paradise. Agee and her husband live near Omaha, and they have opened a literary press there, Brighthorse Books.