Jesse Donaldson was born and raised in Kentucky and attended Kenyon College, where he studied English and history. He was a James Michener fellow in fiction and playwriting at The University of Texas-Austin. His work has appeared in The Greensboro Review, Gulf Coast, Little Star, The Kenyon Review, and Confrontation. He previously worked as an editor at Phaidon Press, as fiction editor for Bat City Review, and has taught at Eastern Kentucky University and Houston Community College.