Janis Owens

Janis Owens is a folklorist, memoirist, premier storyteller and novelist from Florida. She was born in 1960 Marianna as the last daughter and child of a minister of the Assembly of God. Her father would later quit his position to become a life insurance salesman since money was tight. As a teenager, she went to the University of Florida and studied at the Harry Crews Creative Writing Workshop. She would later get her English major and minor in Southern history degree from the same university. The award winning author made her debut with “My Brother Michael” that she first published in 1997 to much popularity. The novel won Best Novel at the Chautauqua South Fiction Awards. She has also written essays on life in Florida that has been featured on “Writer’s Digest” and “The New York Times” among many other publications. She was once referred to as one of the finest novelists of the generation by Pat Conroy.