avg_rating: 4.08
name: Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum
about: My debut novel, A Day of Small Beginnings, asks the question, who are we if we don’t know where our families came from? What are the consequences for the loss of our histories? It is a peculiarly American question. I was inspired in part by my Polish-born grandfather, who having turned his back on his history and his religion, would mysteriously weep every year at our very unorthodox Passover Seders. A few years after my older daughter was born, after having left the practice of law for good, I began to write a story about a man who returns to his father’s hometown in Poland. But in the mid-1990’s, when I travelled to Poland with my in-laws, who are Holocaust survivors, I realized there was a bigger story to tell. In the process, I found th My debut novel, A Day of Small Beginnings, asks the question, who are we if we don’t know where our families came from? What are the consequences for the loss of our histories? It is a peculiarly American question. I was inspired in part by my Polish-born grandfather, who having turned his back on his history and his religion, would mysteriously weep every year at our very unorthodox Passover Seders. A few years after my older daughter was born, after having left the practice of law for good, I began to write a story about a man who returns to his father’s hometown in Poland. But in the mid-1990’s, when I travelled to Poland with my in-laws, who are Holocaust survivors, I realized there was a bigger story to tell. In the process, I found that my sensibilities about writing fiction felt much like the dance choreography I had done years before - choreography with words. The result was A Day of Small Beginnings, which became a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. I am now writing a novel, King of Cahokia, that is, in part, about what it was like to live inside the 1950's McCarthy Era Blacklist, which touched my own life. A few years ago, I attended a performance of Jewish Women's Theatre in Los Angeles, where I live, and was so blown away by the unique salon-style performances by professional actors - reading original contemporary work without sets or costumes, that I submitted a piece. Before I knew it, I became the dramaturg and an enthusiastic supporter of this exceptional group. Feel free to check it out at jewishwomenstheatre.org and on FB. ...more