Jean Ferruzola is a writer focused on stories for young adult readers. Her work often centers on family, memory, and the ways heritage shapes identity. As a first-generation Ecuadorian-American, she is drawn to narratives that explore how the past echoes across generations.

Her writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, Brevity, The Offing, and ELLE Magazine, among other publications. She earned her MFA from the University of Washington and was a 2014–2015 Hugo House Fellow. In 2016, she received Artist Trust’s Grants for Artist Projects, and in 2021 she was honored as a YA Tin House Scholar.

She is currently at work on a young adult novel about a girl confronting long-buried secrets after her missing sister suddenly returns home, a project that continues her interest in resilience, memory, and the complicated bonds of family.

2026 Writers Program