A 2017 Kresge Artist Fellow in Literary Arts and a former attorney, Jean Alicia Elster (BA, University of Michigan; JD, University of Detroit School of Law) is most recently the author of the young adult novel How It Happens (Wayne State University Press, 2021). How It Happens was honored as a 2021 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner for Young Adult Fiction and as a 2022 Midwest Book Award Silver Winner in Young Adult Fiction. It was also awarded the 2022 Bronze Medal in Young Adult Fiction by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. It was selected as a 2023 Black History Month Community Read by the Sterling Heights (Michigan) Public Library.
Elster is the author of the novel The Colored Car—for ages 8 and older—published by Wayne State University Press and released in 2013. The Colored Car was selected as a 2014 Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. It was awarded the 2014 Midwest Book Award in Children’s Fiction (Gold Winner) and was chosen as an Honor Book for the 2014 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. Elster is also the author of the novel Who’s Jim Hines?—for ages 8 and older—published by Wayne State University Press and released in 2008. Who’s Jim Hines? was selected as one of the Library of Michigan’s 2009 Michigan Notable Books. In addition, the Michigan Reading Association placed Who’s Jim Hines? on the Great Lakes Great Books Award 2009-2010 ballot for grades 4-5. Who’s Jim Hines? was also a ForeWord Magazine 2008 Book of the Year Award Finalist in the category of Juvenile Fiction.
In addition, Elster is the author of the children’s book series “Joe Joe in the City”, published by Judson Press, which includes the books Just Call Me Joe Joe (2001), I Have A Dream, Too! (2002), I’ll Fly My Own Plane (2002), and I’ll Do the Right Thing (2003). She was awarded the 2002 Governors’ Emerging Artist Award by ArtServe Michigan in recognition of the series, and in 2004, I’ll Do the Right Thing received the Atlanta Daily World “Atlanta Choice Award” in the category of children’s books.
In recognition of outstanding work, Elster was honored with a 2017 Kresge Artist Fellowship in Literary Arts, a program of The Kresge Foundation. In addition, Elster was selected to be a member of the 2020-2022 Live Coal Gallery/Knight Foundation collaborative. She was also awarded residencies at the internationally acclaimed Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois, in 2001, 2003, and 2005. She was the featured author for the Black Her Stories podcast, season one, episode five.
Formerly an attorney and now a professional writer, Elster has edited several books including The Death Penalty and The Outbreak of the Civil War (Greenhaven Press, an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc.), as well as Building Up Zion’s Walls: Ministry for Empowering the African American Family and Playbook for Christian Manhood: 12 Key Plays for Black Teen Boys (Judson Press). In addition, her essays have appeared in national publications including Ms., World Vision, Black Child, and Christian Science Sentinel magazines. Her short story “Alphabet Day” was published in the First Annual Metro Times-Detroit Fiction Issue. She also collaborated in the preparation of the manuscript for Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialog with Today’s Youth, by Rosa Parks (Lee and Low, 1996), which was honored with four awards including the NAACP Image Award and the Teachers’ Choice Award.
Elster is frequently invited to speak at schools, libraries, and conferences throughout the state of Michigan and across the United States. Engagements include the following representative events: In 2024, Elster was a guest speaker for the St. Clair County (Michigan) Library System presenting “Family History and the Writing of How It Happens”. She was also the guest author at the Our Community Reads Family Day in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 2023, Elster was the keynote speaker when How It Happens was selected as the Black History Month Community Read at the Sterling Heights (Michigan) Public Library. She was a panelist for “Black Trauma, Black Joy – Telling Hard Stories to Young Readers” at the Association of Writers and Writing Professionals (AWP) Conference, Seattle, Washington. She was a presenter for “Oral Histories and the Creation of Historical Fiction for Young Readers” at the Michigan Reading Association 67th Annual Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2022, Elster was a guest presenter for two programs at the Detroit Historical Museum. She was the keynote speaker for the Warren Consolidated Schools Writing Celebration (Michigan). She was also a guest speaker for the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Library’s Youth Author Series. In 2021, Elster was a guest author at the Get Inked Teen Writing Conference at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She was a guest presenter for the Room Project’s Women in Prose from Wayne State University Press event and was a panelist for the Wayne State University Press Publishing Symposium. She was a featured author for the Jackson County (Michigan) Intermediate School District’s Jackson Reads! literacy program.
In 2020, Elster was a panelist discussing “The Importance of Authenticity in Nonfiction” for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators-Michigan Chapter’s spring conference, Livonia, Michigan. Elster was a panelist among Michigan children’s book authors for the Detroit Writing Room Speaker Series, Detroit, Michigan. Elster was also a virtual presenter at the 43rd Annual Youth Literature Seminar, Kalamazoo Public Library. She was the keynote speaker for the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s 2019 Young Authors’ Festival and was the Black History Month guest presenter for the Pontiac Creative Arts Center. She was also a featured author at the Michigan Reading Association’s 2019 conference, speaking on Culturally Authentic Fiction. In 2018, she was the speaker/presenter for the 3rd Annual Yule Love It Lavender Farm Writing Workshop for Detroit Working Writers in Leonard, Michigan and a panelist on the middle grade novel for the 16th Annual Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2016, she was a presenter for the 60thAnnual Conference of the Michigan Reading Association in Detroit, Michigan and the guest speaker for the Ann Arbor (Michigan) District Library’s “Write On!” Story Contest Awards. In 2015, she was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Association of Michigan Independent Schools (AIMS) Affinity Workshop in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 2014, she was a guest speaker for the Vander Veen Center for the Book Program Series at the Grand Rapids Public Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2012, she was selected as the inaugural visiting author for The Lori Lutz Visiting Artist Series at The Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Elster is the founder and president of Write Word LLC (established as Write Word, Inc. in 1994). She and her husband live in Detroit, Michigan and are the parents of two adult children.
