Lang, Jennifer. Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-Miniature. Vine Leaves Press, 2023. Writing the Past (WTP): What motivated you to write this memoir, and to write it in “vignettes”? Jennifer Lang (JL): Eight years ago, halfway through my MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, while working on an essay about running for shelter during the First Gulf War in 1991, my mentor suggested I separate my marriage from the sealed room. He noted that my marriage deserved its own space; I spent the new few months asking what he meant in the margins. He made me see what I didn’t: the multi-cultural as ..read more

Honor Book in Young Adult Category: Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2023, 336 pp.) The Whole Megillah (TWM): Mazel tov on your award! I’m so delighted to get to know you better. What motivated you to tell a “Sliding Doors” story? Dahlia Adler (DA): I’d read a “Sliding Doors” story a number of years back, specifically about a main character who has two different summer options, and I really loved that concept. At the time I read it, I was writing my first LGBTQ YA Romance, and I was really interested in developing new stories through that lens, so essential ..read more

Gansel, Mirielle. Soul House. Trans. Joan Seliger Sidney. New York, NY: World Poetry Books, 2023. TWM: What were the challenges and satisfactions? JSS: In the four years I worked part-time on this project, I needed to be sure that my French translations were correct. Peter, Brian, and Pauline, a French doctoral student, helped me consider different possibilities for the poems. Afterwards, Michèle and I went over the entire manuscript together, discussing which word or phrase worked better. Translating poetry requires going far beyond a word-by-word rendition. Since Mireille is an ex ..read more

Field Notes Some very quick things: First, congratulations to all the Sydney Taylor and National Jewish Book Award winners! My short story, “The Newcomer,” will appear in a future issue of Folio, the literary magazine of American University. Join us at the Mercer County Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center on January 29, 7 pm ET via Zoom to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and productive 2024 ..read more

Field Notes Some very quick things: I’m still trying to figure out what kind of a writer I want to be when I grow up. This is what happens when writing in multiple genres for multiple audiences. My efforts feel fragmented and insufficient. Still, I’ve laid out my writing goals for 2024 and will keep them simple and realistic. Do you engage in goal-setting? How has that worked for you? My essay, “The Yiddish Learner,” appeared in the January 1 issue of Jewish Literary Journal. Another essay, “A Tasting Menu, Belgian Style,” will appear in The Manifest Station literary journal. I’ll be teac ..read more

Field Notes Some very quick things: Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship (Calkins Creek) is off to a good start. I have a podcast interview coming up and accepted two speaking engagements for Yom Hashoah about America & the Holocaust (which I’ll be teaching, if all goes well) in the Master’s in Holocaust & Genocide Studies program at Kean University in the spring. #1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Military Historical Fiction After months of searching, I was able to find the fashion design I submitted to Bunny Ball comics (published b ..read more

Field Notes Some very quick things: Book Birthday! Yesterday marked the launch of my new YA novel in verse, Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship (Calkins Creek). I’ve posted videos that I filmed on the grounds of Camp Nordland, now Hillside Park, in Andover, New Jersey on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. #1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Military Historical Fiction I’ve been working on some new essays in experimental formats. Quite satisfying! I had a chance to catch a performance of “Amid Falling Walls” at the NYC Folksbiene at the Museum of ..read more

Field Notes Some very quick things: ALAN! I’m just back from ALAN (Assembly of Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English) in Columbus, Ohio. I got to “speed date” with six tables of teachers and librarians. Also was on a panel about Holocaust lit with Elana K. Arnold and Neal Shusterman to promote my new book, Facing the Enemy. Meanwhile, rejections of both adult literary and academic work continue to pour in. Still, my essay, “Anderlecht,” about retracing the steps of a former hidden child in Brussels appeared recently in Collateral. I did get to pre ..read more

Arnold, Elana K. The Blood Years. Balzer + Bray, 2023, 400 pp. Available as hardcover, paperback, and ebook. I first met Elana at Tent for Jewish children’s writers in its inaugural year at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. She is a writer of enormous talent. We will be sharing space on a World War II panel at the Assembly on Literature forAdolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in November. Writing the Past (WTP): What inspired you to write The Blood Years? Elana K. Arnold (EKA): All my life, as far back as I can remember, my ..read more

Field Notes It’s hard to focus on anything personal given the events now taking place in Israel. Prayers go to our families and friends in Israel. May they all be safe from harm. I drafted the items below before October 7. Some very quick things: Last week I received at least five rejections of poetry and my full-length poetry manuscript. No personal rejections, just the usual form, standard boilerplate. I wanted to feel discouraged. I wanted to feel like I was never going to write again. Instead, I reached to the bookshelves behind my desk and took Ted Kooser’s Poetry Home Repair Manual ..read more