There is an urgent need for books with religiously diverse characters who don't stand out because of their religion or beliefs.  by Author Marcia Berneger I want to welcome Marcia Berneger to gilagreenwrites. I'm so happy to have her here to share her thoughts on a topic on the minds of many readers and writers: diversity in children's books. ...

Thanks to Barbara Bietz for hosting this month's Jewish Book Carnival. On gilagreenwrites, author Nancy Churnin talks children's book trends, the women in Charles Dickens' life, and Jewish symbols in her new work. Shiloh Musings has reviewed Pamela Braun Cohen's memoir about her decades as an American activist to free Soviet Jewry in HIDDEN HEROES....

First Steps in Writing Your Memoir  The world should know your story.  When: Thursday, October 21, 2021 12 PM ET (2-hour workshop) 7 PM Israel Each of us has a story to tell, we just need to get started.  Cost: $25 Register at Institute of JewishExperience.org

"I wondered, does that mean G-d has stopped talking to people? Are we on our own?" by Evonne Marzouk I'm very excited to have Evonne Marzouk visit gilagreenwrites today. She shares some deep insights into the two decades it took her to write her YA novel The Prophetess and the world she invented with "everyday" prophets. Please welcome Evonne Marzo...

From my colleague Marc Kornblatt: I am proud of the piece, which brings together a number of key issues in my life: family, homelessness, aging, mortality, and persistence. Humor, too. I invite you to watch, comment, like, and share it, and hope you'll subscribe to my channel, too, if you haven't done so already.  Worth watching this solo...

I'm so excited to have Nancy Churnin visit gilagreenwrites. Her new children's book is an absolute delight to read! After all of these years with Charles Dickens, this book explores a refreshing, new (well, new to me), Jewish angle that is so well done. Nancy doesn't hit the reader over the head with a hammer, yet gets her message across about "spe...

Welcome to the July Jewish Book Carnival. This month eleven bloggers bring you their latest interviews, reviews, and insights into Jewish authors and books. The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read and comment on each others' posts. A Jewish Grandmother reviews DISSONANCE A Nove...

At the times when you're feeling dispirited or disillusioned with the process – when you're bogged down in editing, or querying and getting nowhere – holding onto the reason you created the story you chose to can really help you to keep going and hold onto what matters to you. by Author Kit Mallory One of the nicest things about receiving invitatio...

 With panelists Gila Green, Stuart Gibbon, Kit Mallory (moderator), Caleb Roehrig, and Christina Hoag. About this event Join us at 3pm (BST) on July 9th 2021 for this panel on how true events inspire crime fiction. To Register

People who suffer from mental illness are individuals, they are not the illness. by Author Florence Kraut Today Florence Kraut visits gilagreenwrites. I just finished writing my seventh novel titled "A Good Eye," which explores narcisstic personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (specifically as suffered by veterans). As such, I was ...

"I briefly considered writing my story as a memoir, but I just couldn't do it, it was too painful, so I chose to go the fictional route." by Author Christina Hoag  I recently participated in a panel titled "How True Events Inspire Crime Fiction." Thank you UK-based author Madeline Dyer for inviting me to participate for the second ye...

I'm pleased to be hosting the July Jewish Book Carnival (coming up July 15th). Look for interviews and reviews from a range of bloggers including: Batya Medad, Deborah Kalb, Erika Dreifus, Mirta Ines Trupp and many more and yes, I have my own submission coming up. Expand your summer reading list right here on gilagreenwrites. Shoutout to Jewis...

Today on gilagreenwrites, I'm so pleased to share my interview with author Lori Banov Kaufmann. Lori is a fellow writer living in Israel, writing in English, so I was immediately drawn to her work and that was before I knew it took place in my favorite city: Jerusalem. As someone with deep roots in the Holy City, I am fascinated by this book, which...

Autofiction : Between Fiction and Memoir

"An author working in good faith can't win at this game. If she is forced to confirm that her material is autobiographical, then she risks forfeiting both the privacy and the power of transfiguration that fiction promises. If she denies it, then she surrenders a badge of authenticity that she may never have wished to claim in the first place, and l...

In 2011, I finished writing my first novel King of the Class (NON Publishing, Vancouver). It took me two years to find an independent press in Vancouver who agreed to publish it. In King of the Class, I envisioned an Israel of the future, divided into two states: one Halachikally religious and one staunchly secular. The prime minister? Yair Lapid. ...

Summer reading with this month's Jewish Book Carnival. Thanks so much to the Rachak Review for hosting this month's carnival. It's always an honor to be included.  In her monthly author interviews, Gila Green speaks to Barbara Stark-Nemon about her new work that deals with bilingualism, German roots, and the complexity in our writing that come...

Ann Bausum is an award-winning author of 16 works of nonfiction for children, teens, and adults. Her books often explore under-told stories and examine social justice history, but she's also written twice about a famous dog! Earlier this year National Geographic published her latest book for middle graders and up: Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair—Inside...

 Tell Your Sephardi-Mizrahi Story With award winning author Gila Green On Thursdays 27 May- 24 June at 11:00AM EDT 5 online sessions Registration required for the full course Have you always wanted to write your life story? Gila Green's new Middle Eastern flavored Autofiction Workshop explores a writing form that pushes beyond memoir and borro...

Barbara Krasner

"My main issue was to stay true to historical events and personalities." by Barbara Krasner  Barbara Krasner is one of those authors I've met online who I would love to meet in person. We share so many of the same interests, particularly history and a fascination with the 1930s and 1940s. While Barbara approaches this time period from a differ...

Please welcome author Barbara Stark-Nemon to gilagreenwrites. Barbara Stark-Nemon bio from her site An undergraduate degree in English literature and Art History and a Masters in Speech-language Pathology from the University of Michigan  led Barbara to a teaching and clinical career. She's come to appreciate the way different languag...

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

The 23rd Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival offers FREE thought-provoking, unbridled, multilingual events. This year, readers and thinkers can take advantage of the rare opportunity to enjoy compelling authors from around the world from their favourite armchair or book nook. Explore contemporary literary conversations, panels, intervie...

Tel Aviv Art Museum

Thanks so much to Mirta Ines Trupp for hosting the April Jewish Carnival.  This month on gilagreenwrites, Gila interviews author Sharon Kirsch on her new book The Smallest Objective. According to Kirsch, the book is categorized as a memoir but it is a "hybrid of genres." After a brief hiatus, Life Is Like a Library is back with a review of Reb...

Join my zoom class begining  May 27 for five weeks of story exploration.  Who should join? This class is for anyone writing a Sephardi-Mizrahi story. Struggling with your memoir or semi-biographical work? Writing your memoir but feeling constrained by the need to stick to the truth? Then auto-fiction might be the genre you'...

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash

Thank you to Yael Shachar for posting this month's Jewish Book Carnival.  Some highlights, starting with my own talented visitor, Leslea Newman:  This month on gilagreenwrites, Leslea Newman shares her thoughts about poetry and promises and her new work.On her website, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviewed Molly Golubc...

Author Sharon Kirsch

BIO Sharon Kirsch is most recently the author of The Smallest Objective, released by New Star Books, Vancouver. Her earlier book, What Species of Creatures, was an imaginative telling of first encounters between early settlers to North America and unfamiliar "beasts." Reviewers described the title as "remarkable" and "unsettling." The Smallest Obje...

I like complex, flawed and vulnerable characters who struggle with moral questions and try to navigate the world with a sense of purpose, and most importantly, a sense of humor. by Author Ann Lambert I'm so pleased to welcome author Ann Lambert to gilagreenwrites. Wonderful to have a fellow Canadian here with me and I'm sure many of you will be int...

"Creatures who roam the streets of Tel Aviv catch a curious wanderer's eye during the pandemic lockdown." My colleague, the multi-talented Marc Kornblatt, has spent some time during this pandemic making fantastic short films of Tel Aviv. He shares them with me and I'm happy to share them with you. This is one of my favorites. 

I am happy to repost the February Jewish Book Carnival from the Book of Life site (see below). The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. Sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, it is hosted by a different blog each month and shares book reviews, author interviews, essays, and other...

Author Eliezer Shore visits gilagreenwrites today. He offers advice to writers about "the creation of vibrant images" in the minds of their readers. Welcome to gilagreenwrites! BIO: Eliezer Shore is a Jerusalem-based writer, teacher and storyteller. His articles and stories have appeared in publications and anthologies worldwide. His most...

When meeting a Jewish Iranian, an important question needs to be: What city did you come from? Each city has a story of its own—leaving a unique imprint on generations to follow. by Esther Amini Recently I was interviewed by Drora Arussy as part of her New Works Wednesday Series on behalf of the American Sephardi Association and Institute of J...