Salem, Massachusetts will be the site of The 9th Biennial John Updike Society Conference in April 13-15, 2027, and author-editor Jenny Jackson has agreed to be a keynote speaker.

Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of The Shampoo Effect and Pineapple Street, a New York Times Notable Book. As Vice President and Executive Editor at Alfred A. Knopf (Updike’s publisher), she publishes a range of literary and commercial fiction, from Caro Claire Burke’s #1 New York Times bestseller Yesteryear to Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, to Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, to Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. She counts Dolly Alderton, J. Courtney Sullivan, Chris Bohjalian, Ayobami Adebayo, Peter Heller, Katherine Heiny, Jennifer Close, Caroline O’Donoghue, Erin Morgenstern, and Lauren Fox among her writers. She is a graduate of Williams College and attended the Columbia Publishing Course. She grew up in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family.

Especially relevant for Updike enthusiasts is that Jackson grew up in Ipswich while John Updike was living there and a local celebrity. She said her second novel was inspired by Updike’s scandalous novel Couples. “The natural beauty of Ipswich is so dramatic that it does feel like a place where you want to tell big stories,” she told the Local News.

The John Updike Society is an organization composed of professors, teachers, Updike family and friends, and readers who just love Updike and his works. To attend the conference you have to be a member, but it’s easy and inexpensive to join, and you can join at the same time as you register for the conference. A registration post is coming soon.

See Jackson’s Today interview 

See Jackson’s “Overheard Staff Picks” Couples recommendation

Read Jackson’s take on “gossip”

Listen to Jackson’s Open Book with Jenna podcast:  “From John Updike to Tom Brady: Unexpected Inspirations”