Writing is a dance with place

Hi! I'm Jean Shields Fleming, a writer living in Greece. I write fiction, memoir, personal essay, & poetry, and I'm the founder & editor of Certain Age magazine.

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All the Reasons Why

Three women. One piece of land. Who will control its fate?

All the Reasons Why is a meditation on land, loss, family and possibility. Sitting at the still point between literary and commercial fiction, the novel forges a new way to answer one of the defining struggles of our times: What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.

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Publications

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Novel:
Air Burial

Publisher's Weekly called Air Burial, my first novel, "soulful and unsentimental." The book explores grief, love, and throwing off the shackles of an old life - only to discover new obligations & commitments.

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Travel Essay:
The Land Where Rhodes Fell

Traveling in Zimbabwe, I had no desire to confront the legacy of Cecil Rhodes. But he had other plans for me, buried as he is in the most sacred heart of the country.

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My Writing Life

Kind Words

Bestselling author Jim Shepard had some good things to say about my new novel, All the Reasons Why.

Attending Caravaggio

Research is a huge part of my writing process, but my perspective on it has changed. Here's how.

Their Chemical Language

A short poem on finding hope where it's often overlooked.

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