Inclan, Jessica Barksdale

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INCLAN, Jessica Barksdale

PERSONAL: Female. Education: California State University—Stanislaus, B.A., 1985; San Francisco State University, M.A., 1987.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—English Department, Diablo Valley College, 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. E-mail—jessica@jessicabarksdaleinclan. com.

CAREER: Poet, novelist, and author of short fiction. Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA, teacher of composition, creative writing, mythology, and women's literature, 1989—; University of California, Los Angeles Extension, teacher of online courses in creative writing, 2000—.

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, El Andar Writing Contest, 2000, for "Open Eyes"; California Arts Council artist's fellowship in literature, 2002.

WRITINGS:

(Coeditor) Diverse Voices of Women, Mayfield Publishing (Mountain View, CA), 1995.

Her Daughter's Eyes, New American Library (New York, NY), 2001.

The Matter of Grace, New American Library (New York, NY), 2002.

When You Go Away, New American Library (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to literary journals, including Rockhurst Review, Hotwired, Salt Hill Journal, Free Lunch, West Wind Review, Prairie Star, and others.

SIDELIGHTS: Jessica Barksdale Inclan is a poet, short-story writer, and novelist. She teaches composition, creative writing, mythology, and women's literature at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California. She also teaches online courses for the University of California, Los Angeles extension.

Inclan's first novel, Her Daughter's Eyes, stars sixteen-year-old Kate, who is pregnant, and her younger sister Tyler. Their mother, Deirdre, has recently died from cancer, and their father, Davis, can't bear to remain in the home he shared with his wife. He deals with his sorrow by becoming preoccupied with his work and his new girlfriend and her two children, leaving the girls alone in their upper-middle-class neighborhood for weeks at a time; occasionally he stops by with money or groceries. Kate, who is lonely and bored, babysits for the neighbor's children, has a brief affair with their father, and becomes pregnant. Thus, the two sisters are largely on their own with their homework and with household chores, such as cooking and cleaning for themselves. In addition, they must deal with the coming newborn and set up a home for the baby, and they decide not to tell anyone what they're up to.

Hiding Kate's pregnancy from their father, the teens secretly assemble a makeshift crib, clothing from Goodwill, and a book of parenting advice. They set up a crib—made from a camping mattress—in the closet. They also hide the pregnancy from school officials. This is harder than hiding it from their father, but not as hard as it would seem, as no one is particularly interested in their lives. The real question is what they will do once the baby is born.

Kate gives birth at home, assisted by her sister, and they name the baby Deirdre after their mother. When a neighbor, the baby's father, hears Deirdre crying, his wife brings the baby to the hospital and informs Social Services about the birth. The sisters end up in a residential home, the baby goes to foster care, the baby's father goes to jail, and Davis must now prove to the court that he is a fit parent to the children he has essentially abandoned.

The novel explores the effect of grief and mother-loss on a family that is falling apart. In Kliatt Susan G. Allison wrote that the reader "can only feel compassion" for these characters and their difficult choices. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that the story would be particularly interesting to young adult readers, and in Voice of Youth Advocates Stefani Koorey wrote that the book is "a journey of emotional truth."

Inclan's second novel, The Matter of Grace, examines four friends—Felice, Helen, Stella, and Grace—who meet at a swim club while their children learn to swim, and gradually become friends. After seven years, Grace becomes ill with skin cancer, and her illness makes it clear to the others that they don't know her as well as they thought they did; she is hiding other issues, such as her eating disorder. Meanwhile, each is struggling with her own problems: Felice's marriage is falling apart; Helen is having an affair; and Stella, who has long wanted a baby, discovers she is pregnant. A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised the novel as "engaging" and commended Inclan's strong characterization of the four women. Inclan's third novel, When You Go Away, was published in the spring of 2003.

Inclan's short stories and poems have appeared in various literary journals, and her short story "Open Eyes" was chosen by Sandra Cisneros to win the El Ander writing contest in 2000. Two years later, in 2002, she won the California Arts Council's artist fellowship for literature. This award is given to California artists with ten or more years of experience in their field.