Since receiving her first publisher’s rejection letter at the tender age of 12, Jessica Pawley has spent her life improving her craft and sharing her love of reading with young people. From volunteering at primary schools as a teenager to becoming a teacher aide, library assistant, parent, English teacher, and finally a published author, Jess has inspired students across New Zealand. She has toured on behalf of Duffy Books in Homes and Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust, visiting schools from the Far North to South Otago.
Writing as J L Pawley, in 2015, her indie edition of Air Born won an online Reader’s Favorite Award, and the Generation Icarus series garnered over a million reads on Wattpad. The Knowledge Keeper manuscript was shortlisted for the Tessa Duder Award in 2016. During her time with Steam Press (2016-2020), Jess appeared in the Auckland Writers Festival Schools Programme, saw her books translated into Chinese and Russian, and the series was optioned for the screen. The second Generation Icarus book was named a Storylines Notable Book in 2019.
From 2020, Jess stepped back from authoring to focus on supporting her students and family through COVID, then in 2023 received a Massey University Doctoral Scholarship for her research into educational strategies to increase teen enjoyment of reading in the digital age.
The Generation Icarus books were given a makeover and re-released between 2023-2024, alongside the debut of The Knowledge Keeper and, writing as Jessica Pawley, the launch of her first book for intermediate kids, The Fairy Hive, in late 2024.
Jess is currently completing her PhD, aiming to graduate in 2026/2027. In between writing, reading, and research, she enjoys musical theatre, crafting, puzzles, science and history video lectures, and spending time with her two wonderful kids and seafaring spouse, who is also a published author.
