Hi, I'm Jana. I’m a Taiwanese-Australian freelance journalist, writer, and investigative researcher. My work has been published in The Atavist Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Nylon, Taipei Times, Truly Adventurous, among other places, and was recently selected in The Year's Best Sports Writing 2023 anthology by Triumph Books.

​

I mostly focus on longform storytelling, but also write shorter trend pieces as well as offer research and fact-checking services for all kinds of non-fiction projects (e.g., documentaries). I also run my own (very small) publication, Unearthed, which features interviews with noteworthy individuals and hometown heroes. Highlights include: Meaghan Good, an autistic woman in Indiana single-handedly running one of the largest missing person databases in the US, and Chris Atkeson, the real-life robotics professor who inspired one of Disney’s most beloved animated characters.

 

I was born in Japan, immigrated to Australia just before my sixth birthday, and have been living in the U.S. since 2013. In my free time, I enjoy indoor cycling, practicing my photography skills, attending small-town rodeos, deep-sea fishing and, in general, striking up conversations with strangers. My English name comes from my birth name, 加娜 (Jiā nà) , which is pronounced like chicken parmigiana. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and our two dogs, Benji and Podrick.

 

I’m a member of The Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), as well as the Los Angeles Press Club. I was also finalist at the 2023 ASJA Writing Awards & the 65th SoCal Journalism Awards.

You can listen to my latest audio interview with the Creative Nonfiction Podcast here, and read a recent Q&A interview I gave to Famous Writing Routines here. The best way to reach me is via email: jana@jmeisenholder.com