JENNIFER TRAFTON is a storyteller and artist with a passion for exploring the intersections of faith, creativity, and the arts. She studied church history and theology at Wake Forest University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Duke University, focusing on the 19th-century writer George MacDonald and his influence on Christian views of the imagination. After serving as managing editor of Christian History & Biography magazine and a curriculum writer and editor for the StoneWorks Global Arts Initiative, she has been a regular conference speaker, writer, teacher, editor, and illustrator for the Rabbit Room creative community for over a decade. Her first two novels for children, The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic and Henry and the Chalk Dragon, received starred reviews and multiple award nominations, and she has since collaborated on or contributed to a wide array of projects including The Wingfeather Tales, The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad, Every Moment Holy, Vol. III: The Work of the People, and J. R. R. Tolkien and the Arts: A Theology of Subcreation. She recently illustrated Glad and Golden Hours: A Companion for Advent and Christmastide by Lanier Ivester (Rabbit Room Press, 2024) and is the author of an upcoming book about the artist-missionary Lilias Trotter (B&H Publishing, 2025).
Jennifer and her husband, author and playwright A. S. (Pete) Peterson, live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Podcast Interviews & Recordings
Selected Essays, Articles, and Blog Posts
I'm a contributing writer at the Rabbit Room, but I occasionally pop in other places online too.
Here's a link to all my essays on the Rabbit Room blog.
10 Rules of Chivalry for Writers
Word Spelunking
Metaphors, Double Vision, and the Gruesome Pit of Grossness (a writing adventure for your family)
Story Warren
Ticket to Write, Part 1: A Crush on Words
Story Warren
Ticket to Write, Part 2: Painting with Words
Story Warren
Ticket to Write, Part 3: Dancing Gargoyles and Gruesome Armadillos
Story Warren
The Cauldron of Story and the Young Reader’s Bookshelf
Geo Librarian
The Secret of Our Hope Lies in the Imagination of Children
Patheos