Janice Airhart

I was a motherless daughter, but I’m also much more. I’ve been a scientist, a writer and editor, a teacher, a mentor, and an inveterate community volunteer. I’d like to think I’ve wasted none of those experiences and that I make good use of them in my writing. Science, writing, and teaching are great careers for the innately curious. My curiosity has led me down some fascinating roads!

I was delighted that Mother of My Invention: A Motherless Daughter Memoir was awarded the Minerva Rising Press 2021 Memoir prize and was published in November, 2022. MRP’s mission to empower women writers is valuable, and I’m honored to be among those they’ve featured over the years.

I’m currently at work on a second memoir, Subject to Change, about becoming, in mid-life, a high school science teacher to pregnant and parenting teen girls, without any teaching experience. I can confidently say my students taught me as much as I taught them!