2014-2015 Writer In Residence: Annette Gendler

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park is proud to announce its 2014-2015 Writer in Residence, Annette Gendler.

Annette is the author of Jumping Over Shadows, the true story of a German-Jewish love that overcame the burden of the Holocaust, published in 2017 by She Writes Press. The memoir was a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association’s 2017 Book of the Year Award. One essay excerpted from the book, “‘Thrown Out’ of the Family Home,” was published in the Wall Street Journal; two others, “Giving Up Christmas” and “Becoming a Proper Jew in the Kitchen,” were published in Tablet Magazine.

Her essays have appeared in many literary journals, and she regularly writes for the Washington Independent Review of Books and the Jewish Book Council. Her photography has been featured in Bella Grace Magazine and Artful Blogging.

Annette grew up in Germany but has been a long-time resident of Hyde Park, Chicago. She holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. After 15 years of working in consulting, Annette left the corporate world in 2008; she now teaches memoir writing at StoryStudio Chicago and writing workshops around the country and aboard, and does communications work for her children’s former school.