Haley Jakobson is the author of the 2023 New York Times Editor’s Pick, Old Enough. She’s also an accomplished playwright who has established herself as a vital voice in contemporary queer literature.
Her debut novel follows bisexual college sophomore Sav Henry through a transformative spring semester where new queer friendships and romantic possibilities collide with a painful history — specifically, the impending wedding of her childhood best friend, which forces Sav to confront the friend’s older brother, who hurt her deeply in high school.
Old Enough weaves together themes of trauma, sexual violence, authenticity, and healing with remarkable nuance. As Vogue noted
in their praise of the novel’s “growth, heartbreak, and winsome bisexual chaos,” Jakobson’s work grapples with fundamental questions about identity: What does it mean to be someone’s friend? How do you figure out who you are? And what does it mean to grow up and change, or, rather, to grow up and stay the same?
The novel’s exploration of bisexuality is solid too, challenging reductive stereotypes through Sav’s fluid attractions. Perhaps in no small part, this relates to Jakobson’s own bisexual identity. Her official Penguin x Dutton biography opens with the declaration: “Haley Jakobson (she/her) is a bisexual writer and playwright living in Brooklyn, NY” — a clarity of self that extends to her Instagram bio’s self-description as a “bisexual dream girl.”
In interviews, she has emphasized how Old Enough represents the book she needed as a young woman “flailing her way into her identity.” Speaking to Them, Jakobson criticized the statistical, binary framing of bisexuality she encountered growing up (“50/50 attraction” myths she now calls “total bullshit”), instead championing bisexuality’s “superpower… [which is ] to love without limits.” This philosophy permeates the novel’s honest portrayal of queer relationships and self-acceptance.
Beyond fiction, Jakobson’s essays demonstrate her range as a writer unafraid to tackle difficult subjects. Her pieces for Yoga Girl (on mental health), Mashable (on coming out in college), Mixed Feelings (replying to bisexual questions from readers), and Lit Hub (debunking the “suffering artist” myth) reveal a consistent throughline: the importance of self-care in creative work, particularly for survivors. As she noted in Lit Hub, writing Old Enough required therapy, medication, and deliberate self-preservation, a rejection of the romanticized notion that trauma must fuel art.
Jakobson’s theatrical work furthers her commitment to marginalized voices. In 2015, she co-founded New York’s Brunch Theatre Company
with Philip Sieverding, an ensemble dedicated to producing “stories written for minority voices.” As both artistic director and resident playwright, Jakobson continues to expand representation across mediums, whether through Sav Henry’s bisexual coming-of-age or the stage stories she brings to life.