Join the Lesley MFA program for an evening reading with alums Jody Hobbs Hesler (Fiction, June 2017) and Adria Karlsson (WFYP, January 2023). This event will be held both in person and on Zoom.

JODY HOBBS HESLER is the author of the story collection What Makes You Think You’re Supposed to Feel Better (Cornerstone Press, October 2023), and the novel, Without You Here (Flexible Press, September 2024). Her words also appear in Necessary Fiction, Gargoyle, Valparaiso Fiction Review (x, x), Atticus Review, Writer’s Digest, Electric Literature, CRAFT, Arts & Letters, and many other journals. She teaches at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia; writes and copyedits for Virginia Wine & Country Life and Charlottesville Family Magazine; and serves as assistant fiction editor for the Los Angeles Review.

Once upon a time, ADRIA KARLSSON may have been found teaching people, training cats and dogs, or tutoring dyslexic kids, but now they spend their time writing and parenting. Their life seems full of unexpected twists, but also adventure – as an author they get to ask lots of questions, figure out answers, and share what they’ve learned through make-believe. That’s definitely its own kind of happily ever after.