Jeanne Burns writes

Jeanne's stories are honest, engaging and as down to earth as Chicago itself.

Jeanne Burns

Jeanne Burns Kett is a writer and therapist. Her writing celebrates the ways in which we manage to thrive and falter within relationships. With fierce insight into the business of being human, she illuminates the hidden costs and the life-affirming comfort of belonging. She works in private practice and, like generations before her, remains in the Chicago area with her husband, grown children, aging parents, lifelong friends, and extended family.

"Jeanne's writing has a way of drawing you close and keeping you there. Her dialogue feels effortless and true, her details are vivid and lived in, and her characters carry a quiet longing that makes them achingly real. I find myself thinking about them long after I've finished the story, still holding my breath for what comes next."

Cyn Vargas, author of Nothing's Ever the Same and On The Way

Jeanne is excited to present her upcoming novel-in-stories, a striking Chicago collection that blends the tenderness and discomfort of everyday life.

Just South of Bridgeport: A Fictional Collection of Chicago Stories.

Imagine walking into the local bar and being welcomed as one of their own. You get the inside jokes. You know which siblings are fighting and why. You belong. Yet at what price? What must you omit, avoid, or deny? This collection portrays the raw determination and presence of mind required in friendships, marriages, families, neighborhoods, and indeed, in cities.

Jeanne is excited to present her upcoming novel-in-stories, a striking Chicago collection that blends the tenderness and discomfort of everyday life.

Imagine walking into the local bar and being welcome as one of their own. You get the inside jokes. You know which siblings are fighting and why. You belong. Yet at what price? What must you omit, avoid or deny? This collection portrays the raw determination required in friendships, a marriage, a family, a neighborhood and indeed, a city.

Just South of Bridgeport: A Fictional Collection of Chicago Stories.

Imagine walking into a local bar and instantly being treated as one of their own. Social connections are life-affirming and, we are told, contribute to longevity. But the power of 'us' requires compromise. What parts must be kept small? What values are obscured or redefined, leaving one to wonder how things became so unrecognizable?

Selected works

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Artwork by Katy Costello