Jessica Townsend is an Australian author renowned for her children's fantasy novel series, The Nevermoor series. She was born on 18 April 1985 in Caloundra, Queensland.

Her debut novel, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, won the Book of the Year Award at the Australian Book Industry Awards. It was also shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards' Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature.

At the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, Nevermoor won both the Premier's Award for best overall published work and the Children's Award. Additionally, it secured the 2018 Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Younger Fiction.

In 2016, film rights to Nevermoor were sold to 20th Century Fox, with screenwriter Drew Goddard selected to adapt the screenplay.