Jodi Picoult

Picoult writes popular fiction which can be characterized as family saga, frequently centering story lines on moral dilemmas or procedural dramas which pit family members against one another. Over her writing career, Picoult has covered a wide range of controversial or moral issues, including abortion, the Holocaust, assisted suicide, race relations, eugenics, LGBT rights, fertility issues, religion, the death penalty, and school shootings. Picoult herself does not identify as a critically successful author, and has instead been described by Janet Maslin as "a solid, lively storyteller, even if she occasionally bogs down in lyrical turns of phrase."

Jodi Picoult studied at Harvard University, Princeton University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is creative and professional writing, prose and language education. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are romance. Works named in the authority record are Nineteen Minutes.

Picoult was born in Nesconset, New York, on Long Island in 1966. She has one younger brother. She graduated from Smithtown High School East in June 1983. She has described her family as "non-practicing Jewish". Picoult wrote her first story at age five, titled "The Lobster Which Misunderstood". Picoult's mother and grandmother were both teachers, and she says that their influence on her was very important.

Picoult studied creative writing at Princeton University with Mary Morris, and graduated in 1987 with an A.B. in English after completing a 320-page senior thesis titled "Developments." She published two short stories in Seventeen magazine while still in college. Immediately after graduation, she began a variety of jobs, ranging from editing textbooks to teaching eighth-grade English. She earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University. Picoult has two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees: one from Dartmouth College in 2010, the other from the University of New Haven in 2012. In 2016, Picoult was selected to be Princeton's Class Day Speaker before commencement.

Picoult expanded her writing beyond novels in 2007 when she became the writer of the DC Comics series Wonder Woman (vol. 3), following the departure of Allan Heinberg. Her first issue number 6 was released on March 28, 2007, and her last was issue number 10, released on June 27, 2007. That same year, her novel Nineteen Minutes, which is about the aftermath of a school shooting in a small town, published on March 9, 2007, was her first book to debut at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. She continued this line of success with her novels, Change of Heart, published on March 4, 2008, Handle with Care in 2009 and House Rules in 2010, all of which reached number 1 on the list. Picoult's work is often categorized as chick-lit, a somewhat derisive label. However, she has claimed to accept a lack of critical acclaim in exchange for popularity: "I'm never going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, not going to win a National Book Award, never even going to be nominated. What you trade for that is sales and readership. And I would rather reach more people. It would be very nice to not be unfairly accused of being a bad writer, but hopefully if you do pick up one of my books, you will be quickly disabused of that notion." In November 2019, Picoult was involved in a widely reported online controversy with Brooke Nelson, a college student who was mentioned in her local newspaper as saying she thought that author Sarah Dessen's YA novels were not suitable for the Common Read program run by Northern State University, Aberdeen. Instead she had advocated for the inclusion of Just Mercy, a memoir by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Picoult described Nelson's views as "sinister" and "demeaning to women", and encouraged her followers on Twitter to "fight the patriarchy" in response to Nelson's comments. When the story was reported in Jezebel, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Slate, Picoult posted an apology on Twitter, noting that her remarks had resulted in harassment and bullying of Nelson. Her 2024 novel By Any Other Name is based on the premise that the poet Emilia Lanier was the author of several works traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare. In the publication of the book, Picoult raises alternate theories of Shakespeare authorship, claiming that the name "William Shakespeare" functioned as a collective identity for many different types of authors. Picoult characterized Shakespeare's identity as a literary "in-joke" whose context was lost over time, and argued that the widely accepted Stratfordian Shakespeare could not have written the proto-feminist characters that punctuate many of his works. The novel's premise was widely rejected by Shakespearean historians.

Since 2013, Picoult has been member of the inaugural Writers Council of the National Writing Project, an organization that aims to provide professional development opportunities for writing teachers and expand opportunities for underrepresented youths to write and publish about topics important to them. Picoult is also a member of the advisory board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, a "non-profit feminist organization committed to creating transparency around the lack of gender parity in the literary landscape and to amplifying historically marginalized voices, including people of color; writers with disabilities; and queer, trans and gender nonconforming individuals".

Throughout 2023, Picoult was an outspoken critic of book bannings across the United States, particularly Florida. In March of that year, 92 titles—20 of which were authored by Picoult—were removed from Florida's Martin County School District for review for potentially "inappropriate" content. Other authors affected included Judy Blume, Toni Morrison, and Angie Thomas. In an op-ed, Picoult challenged the characterization of such books as "adult romance," arguing that they address topics such as racism, abortion rights, gun control, and gay rights issues, "that encourage kids to think for themselves." During the summer of 2023, the Urbandale Community School District in Iowa reviewed her novel Nineteen Minutes under a new law banning books with sex acts from school libraries. The book, which focuses on a school shooting, was one of 374 books considered by the district for removal. According to PEN America, Nineteen Minutes was one of the most banned books during the 2023–2024 academic year. In 2024, Picoult worked with the organization Unite Against Book Bans on a series of book tour events, where speakers focused on the issue of library censorship and provided resource kits to attendees.

In 2004, Picoult co-founded Trumbull Hall Troupe with Marjorie Rose to provide a fun, educational theatre experience for youths in the Upper Valley, while also supporting charitable causes. The troupe consists of students in grades ranging from six through twelve, who are selected through an audition process. In its early years, the troupe, performed original shows written by Picoult and composed by the troupe's former musical director Ellen Wilbur. Since 2016, the troupe has performed licensed musicals and donates 100 percent of net proceeds to its charities. In addition to performances, troupe members run in CHAD Hero, an annual 5K race for Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, write to orphans in Zimbabwe through the Zienzele Foundation, and run theatre workshops for children at the Upper Valley Haven. In the decade since its founding, Trumbull Hall Troupe has raised more than $250,000 for its charities.

Picoult is married to Timothy Warren van Leer, whom she met in college. They reside in Hanover, New Hampshire. They have three children and three grandchildren. Picoult has published two books with her daughter Samantha.

Jordan McAfee, his son Thomas, and his wife, Selena, are featured in the novels The Pact, Salem Falls, Nineteen Minutes, and Mad Honey (2022). Detective Patrick Ducharme is featured in Perfect Match and Nineteen Minutes. Picoult has stated that she brought this character back for a second novel because she had a crush on him. Ian Fletcher of Keeping Faith makes a brief appearance in Change of Heart, published in 2008. Frankie Martine, first featured in Salem Falls, returns in Second Glance and Perfect Match. Nina Frost, a main character in Perfect Match, makes a cameo in Nineteen Minutes. Peter Houghton, a main character in Nineteen Minutes, is mentioned briefly in House Rules and Mad Honey. Regarding recurring characters, Picoult once remarked, "It's always great fun to bring a character back, because you get to catch up on his/her life; and you don't have to reinvent the wheel—you already know how he speaks, acts, thinks."