Author Gail Fishman Goodman to Appear at Glen Rock Jewish Center

[Editor's note: The following press release was sent by the Glen Rock Jewish Center]

Gail Fishman Gerwin will present a reading and discussion, "Penning a Past in Poetry," with selections from her memoir Sugar and Sand on Sunday, January 8, 2012, from 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in the Library. 

The collection reflects memories that span time from her youth in Paterson though her senior years, with links to previous generations in the United States and Europe. Gerwin will also read poems from her book in progress. 

Time permitting, Gerwin will discuss the craft of narrative writing and provide prompts for creating personal poems.

A graduate of Paterson's public schools, Gerwin attended Smith College, received her AB from Goucher College and her MA from NYU’s Gallatin School. Sugar and Sand earned finalist designation for the 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize. Gerwin earned honorable mention in the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards competitions and her poems and reviews appear in journals including Calyx, Paterson Literary Review, Edison Literary Review, U.S. 1 Worksheets, Adanna, Cutthroat, Smith College Poetry Center, Lips, Caduceus, Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, Journal of New Jersey Poets and yourdailypoem.com.  

Her poem, "I Find My Aunt Frieda in Sepia,” about an aunt lost to the Holocaust, appears in The American Voice in Poetry: The Legacy of Williams, Whitman, and Ginsberg. She frequently presents readings and poetry workshops throughout the metropolitan area at colleges, synagogues, JCCs, libraries, private homes and bookstores.

Gerwin is also the author of Bella’s Family, a two-act play about a Jewish immigrant family in the early 20th century; Dropping Names, a one-act play; and Women in Motion, a monologue collection. A former educator, in 1984 she founded inedit, a freelance writing/editing firm based in Morristown, NJ, and is an associate editor of Tiferet Journal.