Janet Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a family of voracious readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College, she decided she wanted to become a historian. Russian history was her specialty. Janet attended Keele University on a student exchange in Russian Studies, in pursuit of that field, when she woke up in the middle of the night on her 21st birthday, and realized she wanted to be a writer. What attracted her about history was the story, the characters, the writing itself.
Janet has taught fiction writing in the University of Southern California’s Master of Professional Writing program, at UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, at the AROHO Residency at Ghost Ranch, and at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers summer writing conference. Most recently, She’s lectured at the UCR Palm Desert Low Residency MFA and Antioch Low Residency MFA programs, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing and Publishing. After two novels set in Los Angeles, she is deep into a book set during the Russian Revolution.
