Jewish Women's Writing Groups

April 14, 2009

Have you seen the spring issue’s article on Jewish women’s writing groups? (You can even download the article from our homepage!)

Well, in the spirit of that article, we want to hear from you. What are your experiences–with writing groups, with other writers, as a Jewish woman who writes? Please leave your stories, anecdotes and recollections below!

10 comments on “Jewish Women's Writing Groups”

  1. Erika D. on

    I’m a subscriber, and I read the article this weekend. It’s great, and I’d love to link to it on my blog(s), but the pdf doesn’t seem to work when I try to download it. Thanks.

  5. Maggie Anton on

    When I speak at Jewish women’s organizations about my historical novels, RASHI’S DAUGHTERS, they are always surprised to learn that I never took writing classes, never joined a writer’s group, never wrote anything before my books except love letters to my husband in the Army. So Lilith’s article about Jewish Women’s Writing Groups was a peek into a secret world.

    Reading about the 4 groups only reinforced my decision not to join one. Studying Talmud, researching medieval Jewish women’s lives, writing and re-writing – all while working full time as a chemist – who had time for a writing group? I know it sounds selfish, but I didn’t want to spend time reading and critiquing other writers’ first drafts, and I didn’t need group therapy under the guise of improving each other’s writing.

    To me, writers groups are for women who write as a hobby, who want to talk about their writing more than they want to get it published. Not that writing isn’t a perfect acceptable hobby, a way to understand oneself and the world better. But writing is my job now.

    Maggie Anton
    http://www.rashisdaughters.com

  6. admin on

    We just received this amazing letter from the granddaughter of Ita Wrobel, the partisana whose iconoclastic image graces the cover of the spring 2009 issue:

    “To the Editor:

    After seeing my grandmother, Eta Wrobel, on the cover of Lilith, I was inspired to write this poem. It means a lot to me that I am Jewish and more than that, I am proud to be a Jewish woman. Women like my grandmother are enough to make any Jewish woman, even her 16 year old granddaughter, proud to be who she is.

    Thank you,
    Sarah Jake Fishman

    (Written 4/21/09) by Sarah Fishman C 2009

    I am strong

    I wear a star around my neck

    As a shield against the world

    Defy the prejudice

    Stand up for what is right

    Stand up for what was first

    From the beginning of time

    We have fought for survival

    Fought to be accepted

    (Like kids in school)

    Fought to protect

    (Like parents of their children)

    You can put us down

    You can try to oppress us

    But you will not succeed

    We will prevail

    We have been fighting for centuries

    We have been strong forever

    We are strong

    I am strong

    I wear a star around my neck

    As a shield against the world”

  7. Esther Mizrachi Moritz on

    Just read Maggie Anton’s comment and I must respond.

    Writing is not my hobby. It is my life. It is who I am. Though I enjoy publishing my work, I believe that if a writer is a true artist, publication is beside the point. The process is what matters. Getting to the truth is what matters–fiction or nonfiction, the truth is the bottom line.

    Ultimately, as a writer, I have learned to look at and treat each person as an individual and to never lump anyone or anything into a category and then dismiss the category as unworthy. I am amazed that Maggie could dismiss writing groups as a thing for people who write as a hobby. How about those of us who write as an art?

  8. Rachel Hersh on

    In response to Maggie Anton’s comment, I am surprised that a writer would write such a mean spirited note about other writers. Just because she happens to write without a writer’s group, all “while working full time as a chemist…” (can you hear that horn tooting?) does not make her any better than the wonderful writers featured here. I had looked at her books in the bookstore and considered starting her series, but now, have no interest in reading some fictionalized version of biblical women written by this small minded author.

Comments are closed.

Independent, jewish & frankly feminist

Since 1976, Lilith magazine charts Jewish women’s lives with exuberance, rigor, affection, subversion and style.