Jennifer Lane: Playwright | Novelist | Poet

writer

JENNIFER LANE (Jenny Bustance) is a California-based writer of plays, books, poems, and essays. Her work has appeared in such places as The Mothership, Aberrant Tales, The Dionysian, Women in Theatre Magazine, Sisyphus Quarterly, HowlRound, and The Bayou Magazine. A special edition collection of her poetry entitled The Word for When was published by Edizione INAUDITE in Italy and she has published several science fiction romance novels under a pseudonym that reached #1 in several categories on Amazon.

Jenny’s plays include To Fall in Love (winner of the 2017 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Play Contest, winner of Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Drama at the 2017 San Diego International Fringe Festival, Semifinalist for the O’Neill) which has been presented around the country, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play has also been adapted into a feature film and has been an official selection at many film festivals. She won Best Feature Screenplay for the adaptation at the Oceanside International Film Festival.

Other plays include Harlowe (developed under the mentorship of Sarah Ruhl, winner of the Alec Baldwin Fellowship at Singers Forum, workshopped at the Gulfshore Playhouse and FAU’s TheatreLab, Finalist for the 2015 Humanitas/CTG Playwriting Prize); September & Her Sisters (developed at Scripps Ranch Theatre's Out On A Limb Festival, presented at The Workshop Theatre); The Seer & The Witch (developed in the Groundbreakers Playwriting Group, part of the nuVoices for a nuGeneration Festival, Semi-Finalist for the O’Neill Playwriting Conference, nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); and Matrescence (slated for performance with InnerMISSION productions). Her dramatic writing is represented by Amy Wagner of Stewart Talent Agency.

Jenny is also an acquisitions editor and a content strategist specializing in digital fiction and new media. She is an alum of the Road Theatre’s Under Construction playwriting group, the Groundbreakers Playwriting Group, the Mission to (dit)Mars Playwriting Group, the Fusion Artist in Residence Program in Turin Italy, and the Author Mentor Match program, where she was mentored by YA Author Rachel Lynn Solomon. She has written several novels, and her fiction is represented by Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

MFA: Columbia University; BA: Sarah Lawrence College.

about jenny.

jenny's cv

what people are saying about jenny’s writing

“Lane’s script is as dynamic as it is introspective... a poetic piece of theatre that tugs at the heartstrings with its themes relating to loss and letting go.”

— Broadway World

An amazingly powerful play targeting rather somber subject matter with humor and wit… Jennifer Lane deserves praise and notice [for] her writing.

— TimesSquare.com

“The fun of Lane's script is how it features dialogue that's real and relatable - challenging at times, but also full of humor.”

— Broadway World

“Fearless… effortlessly explores complex topics through a realist lens.”

— The Drama Den

“Saucy and unapologetic… runs the gamut from the comedic to the truly macabre. Innovative [and] imaginative.”

— The Review Zoo

“One might squirm at the thought of sitting in a silent theater, staring at two actors staring at each other for four full minutes. [But] the audience was riveted… When your investment in this couple and their love sneaks up on you, embrace it. Lean in. The reward is worth it.”

— Broadway World

“An intelligent and thoughtful writer providing a new definition for American theatre… Revelatory.”

— NYTheatre.com

“[Lane] has this incredible ability to write poetry that sounds like actual conversation.”

— BocaMag.com

“The playwright has constructed dialogue that sounds palpably real, with all the hesitations, false starts and awkward pauses of actual daily conversation, intermingled with the heartache of loss and grief.”