- About - 

JOY BAGLIO (BAH - lee - oh) is a speculative-literary fiction writer and proud Leo living in Northampton, MA. Her short stories have appeared in ​Tin House, ​American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, New Ohio Review, PANK, ​SmokeLong Quarterly, Fairy Tale Review, and in the current spring 2022 issue of The Missouri Review. She's the recipient of scholarships, fellowships, and grants from Yaddo, the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences, Vermont Studio Center, The Elizabeth George Foundation, The Speculative Literature Foundation, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, and will be the Kerouac Project's spring 2023 Writer-in-Residence at Jack Kerouac's house in Orlando, Florida. Joy holds an MFA from The New School and is the founder of the (now virtual) Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, a literary arts organization offering a wide array of writing workshops and literary events. She is at work on a genre-bending collection of short stories and a centuries-spanning ghost novel and is represented by  Peter Steinberg at Fletcher & Company and Sean Daily (for film/TV) at Hotchkiss, Daily, & Associates. Follow her on Twitter at @JoyBaglio. Read a longer bio & artist statement here.

- Short Stories - ​​

- Writing Newsletter - 

Welcome! Alone in a Room is my monthly writing newsletter/Substack, featuring craft musings, original writing prompts, what I'm reading and thinking about, upcoming events, and general inspirational/literary goodness! It's free to subscribe, and you'll receive the latest issue delivered direct to your inbox! (If you don't see it, make sure to check spam & promotions folders.) ​​​

- Upcoming & Recent News - ​

​June: Joy will be the Kerouac Project's Spring 2023 Writer-in-Residence, and will spend March - May of 2023 living/writing in Jack Kerouac's house in Orlando.  

May 31: Joy was interviewed by Constance Malloy of The Burning Hearth this month, about her writing journey, speculative fiction, ghosts & the supernatural, fear, and her forthcoming short story "They Could Have Been Yours" (coming this spring in The Missouri Review).  

May/June 2022: Joy's inverted ghost story "They Could Have Been Yours" - about social media voyeurism, exes, weddings, and a haunted ring - is forthcoming in the current spring 2022 issue of The Missouri Review! (Digital issue featuring a recording of Joy reading the story - she's proud of this reading!) Order issue here!

April 2022: An excerpt from Joy's in-progress novel The Ghost Inside (working title) made the longlist at The Master's Review Novel Excerpt Contest. 

April 2022: Joy's short story "Ron" - originally published in Tin House - is included in the short fiction anthology In the Between: 21st Century Short Stories, out this month from Persea Books. The anthology includes pieces from "established and rising stars," including Roxane Gay, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bryan Washington, Vanessa Hua, and others.  Edited/compiled by Brice Particelli.

March 2022: Joy's alternate Cinderella story "Before" appeared in the spring Lilac Issue of The Fairy Tale Review. 

- Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop - ​​

In 2016, Joy founded Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, a literary arts organization and community based in the Pioneer Valley of Western MA / Northampton MA (now completely virtual) - offering a wide array of writing workshops in all genres, literary readings & events, manuscript consulting services, and a Year-Long Manuscript Program. PVWW now has over forty talented author-instructors teaching virtually, as well as close to a hundred workshops and classes each season. It welcomes writers of all levels and genres. Joy leads a monthly generative Community Writing gathering (live via Zoom) that's free to attend. 

​- Connect -

- Upcoming Virtual Events -


Community Writing at Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop (link)
Ongoing: First Friday of Every Month (6 - 7:30pm ET); virtual

​First Paragraphs Workshop, for Prose Writers (virtual)
at Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
3 Hours: Saturday, October 22 (1 - 4pm EST)
Learn More / Register

Story Sketching: Outline Your Book in Three Acts (virtual)
at Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
3 Hours: Saturday, December 3 (1 - 4pm EST)
Learn More / Register

- Alone in a Room: Newsletter -

Welcome! Alone in a Room is my monthly writing newsletter, featuring craft musings, original writing prompts, what I'm reading and thinking about, upcoming events, and general inspirational/literary goodness!  Visit Alone in A Room Page / First Post!​​