Food-and-travel writer and poet Jen Karetnick works as the features editor for Wine News; restaurant critic for MIAMI Modern Luxury; and “Neighborhood Correspondent” columnist for Biscayne Times. She contributes to other regional and state publications including Florida Table and Florida Travel & Life.

Jen’s freelance byline has appeared or is forthcoming in various national publications, including Arthur Frommer’s Smart Shopping, The Atlantan, Caesar’s Player, Chile Pepper, Chowbaby.com, Continental In-Flight, Diversion, Endless Vacation, Forbes Traveler, Gayot.com, Girlistic.com, Grandparents.com, Hallmark Magazine, International Yachtsman, julib.com, Metromix.com, The Miami Herald, Mobil Travel Guide, The New York Times, Ocean Drive, Planet Hollywood, Poets & Writers, SheKnows.com, Vegas, Venetian Style, Wave Life and Women's Health & Fitness.

The author of Around Miami with Kids (Random House, 2000) and chapters for Fodor's Miami and Florida guidebooks, Jen is co-author of Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow (HarperCollins, 2005) and editor of Hungry? Thirsty? Miami (Glove Box Guides, 2007). Her next project, Born-Again Vintage, written with designer Bridgett Artise, will be released by Potter Craft in December, 2008.

Jen holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree in poetry from University of California, Irvine, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from University of Miami. She has placed more than 75 poems in journals including Barrow Street, Black River Review, The Greensboro Review, Gulf Stream Magazine, The Nebraska Review, North American Review, River Styx, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Sou'wester and Valparaiso Poetry Review, and has been anthologized in Hurricane Blues and Reeds and Rushes, among others. She was awarded a 2005 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize for a lyric poem. Her first poetry chapbook, Necessary Salt, was released by Pudding House Publications (March, 2007) and second manuscript, Bud Break at Mango House, won the Portlandia Group’s bi-annual chapbook competition (September, 2008). Her third collection, Eve and After, a finalist in Southern Hum Press’s 2007 Women of Words chapbook competition, is forthcoming from the press in fall/winter, 2008.

From 1992 until 2004, she was the restaurant critic and “Dish” and “Side Dish” columnist for the metropolitan weeklies Miami New Times and New Times Broward/Palm Beach (Village Voice Media). In 2007-8, she was the Arts and Culture Expert for VisitFlorida.com, where she blogged, made videos and posted articles about the literary, music and arts scene in the state of Florida. She has also worked in these positions for the following defunct publications: as the dining editor for SoFlorida, the lifestyle bi-monthly from the South Florida Business Journal; the restaurant critic for regional sister publications Las Olas Magazine and Lincoln Road Magazine; the “Aphrodisia/”Sexy Eats” columnist for Citizen Culture magazine; the “Dishtillery” columnist for The Drexel Online Journal; and the “Substance Over Style” columnist for Rescue magazine.

An expert in Miami/South Florida as well as national and international lifestyle trends, Jen has worked for custom publishing companies including Time Warner Publications, Condé Nast Traveler, Onboard Media, HCP/Aboard Publishing, International Voyager Media, Morris Visitors Publications, Pearl Media/Dining Out Publications and International Publishing Concepts.

I am extremely easy to work with. Having survived two programs in creative writing and a huge amount of editors at alternative weeklies, I have almost no ego left. I believe in editing to make things better, and also have experience as an editor. I travel frequently but not so much that I have no time to write. I also have a husband and children who occasionally travel with me, so I cover all sorts of bases when it comes to dining and traveling: family-friendly, romantic, adventurous. I'll eat anything and go anywhere, and after 16 years in the business, I have excellent contacts in the public relations and tourism business all over the world--so I also know how to get myself there.