Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa

Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa (born ) is a Samoan writer and LGBTQ rights activist. In 2018, she was the Pacific regional winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Biography Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa was born in Samoa around 1987. After fighting depression and low self-esteem in her teen years, she began writing in her early 20s. Her first short story was published in the Samoa Observer in 2008, with the support of editor Savea Sano Malifa. From 2014 to 2016, she taught English in the university's College of Foundation Studies, on its Alafua campus. As of early 2021, she was pursuing a master's degree in literature from the same university. The story deals with the experiences of a fa'afatama, a third gender person in Samoan culture who was assigned female at birth but possesses both masculine and feminine traits.

In 2017, "Matalasi" won in the Samoan category for the Samoa Observer Tusitala Story Competition. Then, in 2018, "Matalasi" was named the winner for the Pacific region of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

In addition to her writing, Bennett-Tuionetoa is an activist for LGBTQ rights.