Freelance Writing Direct: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, agents, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts. podcast

November 07, 2024 #112 On Being Jewish Now Featuring Caroline Leavitt and Annabelle Gurwitch

Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 novels, most recently Days of Wonder, which was a CBS/Mary Calvi bookclub pick, the recipient of a MidAtlantic Arts Foundation grant, and which was translated into Russia and has a shopping agreement for film. The co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, the book program begun the day of lockdown, she writes a column blog "Runs in the Family" for Psychology Today, and is a book critic for people and the recipient of a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship. She teaches story structure for the novel at UCLA Writers Program Extension and works with private clients. Her work has appeared in the New York Times "Modern Love," New York Magazine, Salon, Lit Hub, The Millions and many anthologies.

Annabelle Gurwitch is a New York Times Bestselling author, actress and activist whose most recent collection of essays "You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility" is a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022. She's written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Hadassah amongst other publications. Her five books include the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist "I See You Made an Effort." She's written and developed adaptations of her books for HBO, F/X, NBC, Lifetime networks. She's currently writing a film for the Hallmark Channel with Emmy winning tv producer Neena Beber based on "You're Leaving When?" for Andi MacDowell to star in.

Annabelle has been chronicling living with stage iv lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid.

In this episode:

Caroline Leavitt and Annabelle Gurwitch’s essays for the anthology [3:20]
Caroline and Annabelle’s experiences with anti-Semitism [4:27]
The impact of a children’s storyteller on Caroline’s understanding of what it means to be Jewish [8:16]
The importance of art and storytelling in fostering empathy and understanding [12:41]
The call of our ancestral DNA during this fraught moment [22:24]
Advice for jewish writers navigating this challenging and important time in Jewish history [24:36]
The power of three little words [29:09]

Connect with Caroline Leavitt

Twitter. @leavittnovelist

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carolineleavitt/

Threads https://www.threads.net/@carolineleavitt?hl=en

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolineleavitt

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@carowriter99

Website: Https://www.carolineleavitt.com

Connect with Annabelle Gurwitch

photo credit jeff vespa

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/annabellegurwitchauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annabellegurwitch1/

X: https://x.com/lagurwitch?lang=en

Website: https://www.annabellegurwitch.com/

About On Being Jewish Now

Zibby Owens has edited a new anthology, which Zibby Books is publishing, called On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates. Profits will be donated to Artists Against Antisemitism, a 501(c)(3) founded by Alison Hammer that Zibby joined as a Founding Member after the attacks on October 7th, 2023.

On Being Jewish Now (coming 10/1) is a collection of essays about what it means to be Jewish and how Jewish life has changed since October 7th. Zibby came up with the idea for this anthology in response to feeling powerless against the spread of antisemitism. “Writing — and reading — is how so many of us process and make sense of the world,” she said. And so Zibby thought, I’ll ask writers to reflect on what it means to be Jewish now.

Seventy-five contributors came together in four weeks to share their stories of love, family, joy, fear, and pain, and the common threads that course through the Jewish people: resilience and humor. Contributors include Mark Feuerstein, Jill Zarin, Steve Leder, Joanna Rakoff, Amy Ephron, Lisa Barr, Annabelle Gurwitch, Daphne Merkin, Bradley Tusk, Sharon Brous, Jenny Mollen, Nicola Kraus, Caroline Leavitt, and many others.

Among them: descendants of Holocaust survivors, several Israelis, and one author who lost a cousin in the war. There are men and women, multiple bookstore owners, several celebrities, and some female founders. One African American contributor shares his thoughts on being a Jewish Black man.

The e-book and audiobook, narrated by the contributors, was published on October 1st, the trade paperback on November 1st.

“This is about healing,” says Zibby. “About coping and connecting. In the only way I know how.”

Zibby Owen’s episode #36 on Freelance Writing Direct

https://estelleserasmus.com/36-zibby-owens-is-upending-the-publishing-world/

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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