It’s never too late to become a published author.
We’ll hear from four fascinating women who have transitioned from other careers to writing.
They will each read a brief segment from their latest work.
Our authors will talk about the satisfaction they have found in writing, and the roadblocks they have had to overcome.
Through learning about their personal experiences and choices, you’ll gain insight about the literary marketplace today.
Harriet Shenkman earned a Ph.D. from Fordham University. She is a Professor Emerita at City University of New York. Her poetry awards include the Women’s National Book Association 2013 Annual Writing Contest in Poetry and the Women Who Write 2013 International Poetry and Short Prose Contest. Her poetry appeared in Union, the Raynes Poetry Competition Anthology, Evening Street Review, Third Wednesday, Jewish Currents, Jewish Magazine, Westchester Review. Oyez Review, The Alexandria Quarterly, Comstock Review, The Berru Poetry Series, and two poetry chapbooks published by Finishing Line Press, Teetering and The Present Abandoned. She has completed a novel, The Camel Tamer, which she hopes to see published. The Clinic, a short story based on her novel, appears in Jewish Fiction.net.
Jacquie Herz was born in London, shortly after the end of World War II, to a family of Jewish refugees who fled Hitler’s Europe. When she was eight, her parents divorced and her mother left London to go and live with her own parents, who had already emigrated to New York. So, coming to America to be with her mother was her childhood’s life-long dream! And because letter-writing was the only way to communicate with her mother at the time, writing became an integral and necessary part of her life from that very early age.
Her debut novel, Circumference of Silence—published in July 2021 by Black Rose Writing—draws on her family’s memories as Jews in Europe under Hitler and their refugee experiences, first in London during the second world war and later on, in New York.
Fitness Professional turned novelist, Linda Rosen’s books are set in the “not-too-distant past” and examine how women reinvent themselves despite obstacles thrown their way. A central theme is that blood is not all that makes a family– and they always feature a piece of jewelry! Her novels, The Disharmony of Silence and Sisters of the Vine are published by Black Rose Writing. In addition to writing novels, Linda was a contributor to Women in the Literary Landscape: A WNBA Centennial Publication for the Women's National Book Association. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and co-founder of the South Florida chapter of the Women’s National Book Association where she holds the position of VP of Programming. On the WNBA national level, Linda is on the Great Group Reads committee which chooses books for National Reading Group Month. In addition, she is a founding member of The Author Talk Network and an administrator and editor of the Facebook Group, Bookish Road Trip. Linda lives with her husband in New Jersey, but when the leaves fall and she has to swap sandals for shoes and socks, they move to their home in Florida.
Recently retired as a full-time lecturer in Political Science, Dr. Ziva Bakman-Flamhaft has been teaching at Queens College of the City University of New York for 37 years, currently as an adjunct lecturer. She is a Fulbright scholar, a writer, and a memoirist. Her memoir War Widow: How the Six Day War Changed My Life was self-published in 2017 (Create Space). Her first book, Israel on the Road to Peace: Accepting the unacceptable was published in 1996 (Westview Press). Additionally, Dr. Bakman-Flamhaft has published numerous articles, book reviews and book chapters, and has been a guest speaker in many academic conferences, book clubs, libraries, and other organizations.