"['They Could Have Been Yours'] is the kind of short story that makes me want to jump onto my desk and shout: The American short story is alive and well!"
- Speer Morgan, Editor of The Missouri Review (Read as reprint in Apex)
About
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JOY DEVA BAGLIO (DAY - vuh | BAH - lee - oh) is a speculative/literary fiction writer whose short fiction has appeared widely in such journals as Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, Tin House, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, SmokeLong Quarterly, Fairy Tale Review, among others, and is forthcoming (December, 2025) in One Story. Two stories have been optioned for film/TV. A Bread Loaf and Sewanee Scholar, other honors include residencies and fellowships from Yaddo, Ragdale, Vermont Studio Center, The Elizabeth George Foundation, The Speculative Literature Foundation, and The Kerouac Project, where she was the spring 2023 writer-in-residence living and writing in Jack Kerouac's Orlando bungalow. Joy holds an MFA from The New School and is the founder of the literary arts organization Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, a literary arts organization based in Northampton MA (and virtually). She is at work on a collection of short stories, three speculative-literary novels, and a screenplay and is represented by Peter Steinberg at United Talent Agency (UTA) and Sean Daily (for film/TV). Follow her on Bluesky, Substack, X/Twitter, Instagram, Meta/Facebook.
Longer bio, artist statement, & awards/honors here. |
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Upcoming & Recent News
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December 18, 2025: Joy's short story "We Are Sorry For Your Suffering" - a winner (third place) in the 2023 Zoetrope: All-Story Fiction Contest - will be the December 2025 issue of One Story! Subscribe to receive a copy (one great story each month), or visit their website for more info and an interview with Joy about the story (coming soon)! October 18, 2025: Joy led a session on Embracing the Strange: An Introduction to Speculative Fiction at the WriteAngles Conference, in Greenfield MA. September 22, 2025: Joy was a visiting writer at The Williston School in Easthampton, where she taught a workshop on speculative fiction and gave a reading for the school. March 4 - 7, 2026: Joy will be a presenter on three different panels at the 2026 AWP Conference in Baltimore, March 4 - 7, on portraying AI in fiction, hopeful dystopias, and genre pedagogy. Learn more / read panel descriptions under "News." August, 2025: Joy is the winner of the Nancy Zafris Short Story Fellowship at The Porches, in VA, which offers a 10-Day residency for a short story writer. March 12, 2025 (at 6 - 8pm): Readers & Writers Live Writers Allegra Hyde and Joy Deva Baglio will read and discuss their work as part of the Readers & Writers Live series, at Forbes Library in Northampton MA (in the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Museum) Learn More | Link to recording November, 2024: Joy's short story "Frog Heart" (Ploughshares, 2024) is nominated for a 2025 Pushcart Prize! |
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Selected Short Stories
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for complete list of published works, with excerpts, audio recordings, & videos
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Substack / Craft 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.)
Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
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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 changing schedule of writing workshops in all genres, literary readings & events, manuscript consulting services, and a 10-Long Manuscript Program. PVWW now has over thirty author-instructors teaching virtually, as well as close to a hundred workshops and classes each year. It welcomes writers of all levels and genres. Joy leads a monthly generative Community Writing gathering (live via Zoom) that's free to attend.
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