She won prizes for poetry and short stories throughout high school and college but was always told that being a writer would not be a viable career.

In 1983, her short story, "My Own Earth" launched her career when an intern pulled it from a slush pile and passed it up to Harper's Magazine editor, Helen Rogan.

[2] The publication of "My Own Earth" was soon followed by more success when her short story "Aunt Marj's Happy Ending" was published by Harper's Magazine in December 1983.

"A Map of the World" is set in Racine County, Wis. Of her writing, novelist Laura Moriarty says: "I like Jane Hamilton for her compassionate portrayals of characters most people would ridicule, and the way her books show the beauty of rural life without romanticizing it.

Much of Hamilton's work reflects her personal experiences, displayed through the settings, characters, and events that occur in her writing.

[10] She attributes her success to the influence of strong women in her life who were writers, her husband and relatives who provided her with an environment in which she could work, and pure luck.