Leslie Schwartz

Leslie Schwartz (born 1962) is an American author and teacher of creative writing. She has published two novels, Jumping the Green and Angels Crest, the latter of which was made into a 2011 film, and The Lost Chapters, a memoir of her time in jail while recovering from alcoholism.

Leslie Schwartz at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in 2018

Personal life

Schwartz was born in 1962.[1] She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and English from UC Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in 2012 from Pacific University in Oregon.[2][3] She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.[4][5]

Schwartz is a recovering alcoholic, who began drinking at the age of 11, and became sober in 2000.[6] In 2012, she relapsed, and spent 414 days in what she calls "a chronic state of blackout" from alcohol and drugs, including two near-fatal overdoses and four arrests.[4] This only ended after she was arrested in early 2014 for driving under the influence and battery of an officer.[7] She served 37 days in jail of a 90-day sentence starting in March 2014, and wrote a 2018 book about her experience.[5]

Writing work

Schwartz has taught creative writing at numerous institutions including the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and Jewish Women's Theatre, and continues to teach at the summer writing festival at the University of Iowa.[8][9][10] She served as president of the board of directors of PEN Center USA, the Los Angeles literary and human rights organization, from 2006-2007.[11]

Homeboy Industries

In 2006, as part of PEN, Schwartz was hired through a grant by the California Council for the Humanities to teach a 10-week creative writing class for former Los Angeles gang members at Homeboy Industries, an intervention program founded by Father Gregory Boyle.[12] After the class was over, she stayed on as a volunteer.[13] The Los Angeles Times wrote about her volunteer work.[6]

In 2008, Schwartz became the founder of the Homeboy Press and editor-in-chief of the Homeboy Review literary magazine, which included the former gang members' writing along with that of professionals.[14] The magazine published two annual issues.[15]

Books

Jumping the Green

In 1997, Schwartz won the $2,500 James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship for her unpublished novel, Jumping the Green, beating out over 500 other applicants. As a result of winning, Schwartz signed a contract with the Elaine Markson Literary Agency in New York.[16] Jumping the Green was published October 1, 1999, by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-85589-5. It tells the story of a young San Francisco sculptor examining her sister's unsolved murder while being in a sadomasochistic relationship. It was widely reviewed in the United States and the United Kingdom.[17][18][19][20][21][22]

Angels Crest

Angels Crest (Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-51185-8) is a 2004 novel about a toddler wandering off in the snowy California mountains, and the aftermath in a small town where nearly everyone has a personal connection to the tragedy. The story is told from seven different points of view. It received mixed reviews, calling it pounding, but also maudlin.[23][24]

The book was made into a 2011 Canadian-American film of the same title, directed by Gaby Dellal and starring Thomas Dekker, Lynn Collins, and Mira Sorvino. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, and was widely released by Magnolia Pictures in December.[25]

The Lost Chapters

In 2018, Schwartz published her memoir The Lost Chapters: Reclaiming My Life, One Book at a Time (Blue Rider Press, ISBN 978-0525534631) about her 2014 sentence in the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California. It juxtaposes her experiences in jail with the 22 books she had sent to her there, each of which seemed to arrive at the most appropriate time. Schwartz especially credits Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being for changing her life.[26] The memoir also sympathetically describes the women that she was imprisoned with, and criticizes the cruel and dehumanizing system that incarcerates them without treating them.[5] The book received favorable reviews.[27][28][29]

References
  1. Schwartz, Leslie (2005). Angels Crest. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. Copyright page. ISBN 978-1-4000-7645-1. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  2. "Leslie Schwartz MFA '12". Pacific University. November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  3. Leslie Schwartz on LinkedIn Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  4. McMahon, Barbara (July 30, 2018). "Leslie Schwartz: Drugs and alcohol ruined my life. Jail was the best thing to happen to me". The Times. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  5. Larsen, Peter (August 3, 2018). "In 'The Lost Chapters,' LA writer Leslie Schwartz finds new life after addiction and jail". Orange County Register. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  6. Hayasaki, Erika (October 10, 2007). "'Now the giant awakes'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  7. Kozlowski, Carl (August 9, 2018). "Writer Leslie Schwartz recounts her harrowing DUI incarceration in 'The Lost Chapters'". Pasadena Weekly. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  8. Sipples, Kate (June 20, 2011). "Writing Fearless Fiction with Leslie Schwartz | Writers' Program at UCLA Extension". UCLA Extension Writers' Program. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  9. "Classes: So, What's Your Story?". Jewish Women's Theatre. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  10. "Leslie Schwartz - The 90-Day Rewrite Tele-Course". L.A. Writers' Lab. July 28, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  11. "PEN Center USA | Board of Directors". PEN Center USA. May 14, 2007. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  12. Olivas, Daniel A. (October 7, 2009). "Guest interview: Leslie Schwartz". LeslieSchwartz.com. Leslie Schwartz. Retrieved December 8, 2019.; also available as Olivas, Daniel A. "GUEST INTERVIEW: LESLIE SCHWARTZ". The Elegant Variation. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  13. Ardalani, Sarah (December 7, 2009). "Dispatch: 'My son's death was senseless and selfish'". LA Times Blogs - The Homicide Report. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  14. Mikulan, Steven (June 23, 2009). "Always Writing: 'Homeboy Review' Launches". LA Weekly. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  15. "Homeboy Review #2". Homeboy Industries. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  16. "Latest Fellowship Recipient Signs With Literary Agency" The James Jones Literary Society Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 2, Winter 1997-98, Ray Elliott and Vanessa Faurie, Co-Editors. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  17. "Jumping the Green", Kirkus Reviews Issue of September 1, 1999.
  18. "Jumping the Green", Reviewed by Charles Winecoff, Entertainment Weekly, issue #513, November 19, 1999.
  19. "Love Stories", by Laurie Foos, The Washington Post, December 12, 1999, page X.04.
  20. "Whodunnit? With these characters, who cares?", reviewed by Hamish Brown, Sunday Herald, August 20, 2000, page 10
  21. "Sightlines...", by Colin Waters Sunday Herald, September 9, 2001, page 10.
  22. "Exceptional first novel with a gripping psychological sting.", review by Charlie Hill, September 2, 2000, The Birmingham Post.
  23. "Fiction Book Review: ANGELS CREST by Leslie Schwartz, Author. Doubleday $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-385-51185-8". Publishers Weekly. June 21, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  24. "ANGELS CREST by Leslie Schwartz | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. April 1, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  25. Fleming, Mike (October 14, 2011). "Magnolia Acquires Tribeca Title 'Angels Crest'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  26. Schwartz, Leslie (July 31, 2018). "The Book That Changed My Life". Read It Forward. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  27. Kirsch, Jonathan (August 16, 2018). "Novelist in Jail Finds Herself in 22 Books". Jewish Journal. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  28. "THE LOST CHAPTERS by Leslie Schwartz | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. No. May 1, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  29. "Nonfiction Book Review: The Lost Chapters: Finding Recovery & Renewal One Book at a Time by Leslie Schwartz. Blue Rider, $27 (272p) ISBN 978-0-525-53463-1". Publishers Weekly. August 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
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