Jen Karetnick is the Creative Writing Director for Miami Arts Charter School, teaching poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and playwriting/scriptwriting to students in grades 6-12. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of California, Irvine, and an MFA in fiction from the University of Miami. A native of New Jersey, Karetnick lives in Miami Shores on the last remaining acre of an historic mango plantation with her husband and their two children, three dogs, three cats, and fourteen mango trees.