“The reason I write about reclaiming wildness is that each of us has a flame within us that, when lit, is too powerful for someone else to control.”

—Jenny O'Connell, Wild Story

Jenny O’Connell is a writer, speaker, teacher, and outdoor guide. Her writing explores themes of wildness, adventure, risk, and joy, and reimagines how we relate to the earth. She is the author of Wildheart, an adventure memoir about her 700-mile solo trek following the footsteps of a legendary woman in Finland’s Arctic Circle (forthcoming from DK at Penguin Random House in 2027). Her award-winning nonfiction has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Backcountry, Down East, SLICE Magazine, Appalachia Journal, Maine Magazine, Decor Maine, A.T. Journeys, Hippocampus, Camas, Stonecoast Review, and elsewhere. Wild Story, her Substack, is a collection of essays on staying wild, tender, awake, and connected in this world. She is the co-creator of The Joyfire Project, a storytelling exploration of how joy ignites our humanity, resilience, and power. 

Jenny’s 18-year career as an outdoor guide has brought her all over the world leading hiking, backpacking, sea kayaking, and river expeditions from the Peruvian Andes to the wild waters of her home state of Maine. Formerly a staff writer and content developer at the Appalachian Mountain Club, she combines her passion for adventure with environmental storytelling, collaborating with photographers and filmmakers to bring her audience on immersive journeys that inspire them to care for the natural world. Follow the Water, the Maine Mountain Media film about her 100-mile source to sea kayak expedition with photographer Andy Gagne to protect clean drinking water, appeared in the Maine Outdoor Film Festival, the World Water Film Festival, and won Paddling Magazine’s “Best Kayaking Film of 2026” award.

Jenny has held artist residencies at Monson Arts, Hewnoaks, The KISMET Foundation, the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Chulitna Lodge Wilderness Retreat, and Norton Island Residency for Writers and Artists, where she serves on the board. She earned her MFA from Stonecoast. She mentors creative writers and teaches at Hugo House, Stonecoast, and Seguinland Institute, where she is the Visiting Professor of Creative Writing. An outdoor guide for nearly two decades, she leads hiking and paddling expeditions that connect people to their wildness and power. She never leaves on a trip without a trusty pair of adventure pants and a waterproof ukulele.

Jenny is represented by Jamie Chambliss and Steve Troha of Folio Literary. She lives in Portland, Maine.

“Heart-pounding, aching invitations into living more beautifully.”

—Katherine E. Standefer, author of Lightning Flowers

“Infectiously joyful, O’Connell’s writing is just plain fun to read. I’d follow her anywhere.”

—Bethany Maile, author of Anything Will Be Easy After This