ANTHROPOLOGY AND FICTION

I use fiction as a medium to play with some of the ideas I have not had the chance to develop in my academic writing (in the fields of anthropology and history)

Anthropologists enter into worlds that are foreign to them.  Initially, the culture, language, and norms they encounter may appear odd and even nonsensical.  Their job - as outsiders - is to work to see the world from the inside; to learn how things are ordered, and why they work the way they do.  

This is the job of a story-teller as well; to bring the reader into the world of her characters - into their minds, and into the cultural times and places they inhabit.  By going inside, a good writer is able to create compelling figures with whom the readers can understand and sympathize.  I love this aspect of reading and writing fiction.

I am also drawn to creating narrative structure.  Figuring out how to tell a story appeals to me in the same way as tackling a good brain-teaser.  Finally, it's so liberating not to worry about citations and footnotes!

TWO STORIES - NOT YET PUBLISHED

Yosef the Lost Yeshiva Boy
A perversion of Isaac Bashevis Singer's story.  What if a boy who lived in the same pre-war Eastern European landscape as Yentl, left his home town and went into the world as a girl?  Click here for reflections and an excerpt


Mourning Song
Preparing the fish to be eaten at the memorial meal for her mother, Raya notices Ilya's stare.  Suddenly she realizes she is alone with him, locked behind the synagogue's heavy metal gates, to which he alone holds the key.  Click here to read an excerpt.