Find an Author by Name
N-R

Welcome to Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com, an independent site created by literary agent Anna Olswanger, where you can contact Jewish book authors by name, location, or genre. Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com lists only authors who have agreed to participate, with authors themselves providing their contact information, book titles, lecture topics, and areas of travel.

Host a Jewish book author today!

Lesléa Newman (Runaway Dreidl!, Matzo Ball Moon, The Eight Nights of Chanukkah, and A Letter to Harvey Milk: Short Stories) lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. Winner of a Gemini Award, she gives a talk for grades 1-5 entitled "Dreidels, Maidels and Ladles!" in which she shows students how a book is created from start to finish. Her talk includes early handwritten drafts, artist's sketches, book dummies, and press sheets. With photographs from her childhood, she shows students where her ideas come from, and how the people in her family appear in her books. Newman also gives a talk for adults entitled "How Can You Be a Lesbian—You're Jewish!" She reads from her poetry and from her short story collection A Letter to Harvey Milk while exploring themes of Jewish and lesbian identity: where the two intersect and where the two collide. Newman is willing to travel anywhere. To arrange a program, email her at leslea@lesleakids.com or visit her websites www.lesleanewman.com and www.lesleakids.com.

Christos Nicola (The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story) lives in Astoria, New York, where he is a New York State Professional Conduct Investigator. Winner of a Sydney Taylor Honor Book Award, Nicola gives these talks: "Cave Exploration around the World," "Survival in Extreme Conditions," "Climbing and Rappel Techniques," and motivational talks, such as how the Jews featured in The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story survived the Holocaust by taking refuge in a cave for a year. Nicola is wiling to travel anywhere, as long as his travel, lodging, and meal expenses are covered. To arrange a program, email Kar-Ben Publishing at publicity@karben.com or visit Nicola's website www.priestsgrotto.com.

Anna Olswanger (Shlemiel Crooks) is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York and the coordinator of the Jewish Children's Book Writers' Conference each fall at the 92nd Street Y. She lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. A Sydney Taylor Honor Book Award winner and a Koret International Jewish Book Award finalist, Olswanger gives talks to adults on "How to Get Your Children's Book (or Any Book) Published from a Literary Agent's Point of View" and "Helping Children Write Fiction from Family History." She visits schools and libraries to give talks to children about the research behind Shlemiel Crooks and how writers of any age can research their family history and use it to write short fiction. Olswanger is willing to travel anywhere. To arrange a program, email her at anna@olswanger.com or visit her websites www.shlemielcrooks.com and www.olswanger.com.

Cynthia Polansky (Far Above Rubies) lives in Annapolis, Maryland, where she is a full-time freelance writer and part-time writing tutor at the U.S. Naval Academy. Polansky tailors presentations and readings to libraries, schools, festivals, bookstores, and civic groups. Her topics include: "The Holocaust in Fiction, Not as Fiction: The Far Above Rubies Journey," "Remote Control: The Jewish Perspective on Life After Death," "Give Those Thumbs a Rest: Getting Kids Away From Texting and into Text," and "Crossing Polansky: The Challenges Facing the Cross-Genre Author." She is willing to travel anywhere within 100 miles from her Annapolis home, and elsewhere if her expenses are covered. To arrange a program, email her at author40@verizon.net or visit her website www.cynthiapolansky.com.

Alan Radding (Miracles: Stories for Jewish Children and Their Families), lives in Newton, Massachusetts. A freelance writer, ghostwriter, and lay leader of his synagogue's children's service, he gives readings of his original stories for children in synagogues, schools, summer camps, and Jewish Community Centers throughout the New England area. Radding is willing to travel anywhere within a day's drive of Boston. To arrange a program, contact him by phone at 617-332-4369, email alan@radding.net, or visit his website www.jewishfamilystories.com.

Diane Levin Rauchwerger (Dinosaur on Hanukkah, Dinosaur on Passover, and Dinosaur on Shabbat) lives in Sunnyvale, California, where she is the synagogue librarian at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. Rauchwerger gives a Mother Goose program for infants through four-year-olds and their parents, grandparents or caregivers in which she presents interactive songs, rhymes and stories through her "magic apron" filled with puppets and props. Rauchwerger also presents programs on Shabbat, Hanukkah, Passover, and Purim (the latter with a puppet show) for pre-kindergarten through second grade, and family groups with young children. She is willing to travel anywhere. To arrange a program, contact her by email at MLS4bug@sbcglobal.net or her publisher at publicity@karben.com.

Rosalind Reisner (Jewish American Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests), a librarian, divides her time between New York City and Ocean, New Jersey (Monmouth County). Winner of the Best Reference Book Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries, she gives two talks based on her book: "Hungry Hearts: 350 Years of American Jewish History in Fiction and Memoirs" and "Beyond Faye Kellerman and The Red Tent: Great Jewish Mysteries, Thrillers and Historical Fiction." Reisner is willing to travel throughout the Eastern corridor from Boston to Washington, DC, including Baltimore and Metro New York City. To arrange a program, email her at roz@thereisners.net.

Rabbi Dennis S. Ross (God in Our Relationships: Spirituality Between People from the Teachings of Martin Buber and The Ten Commandments: From the Shadow of Eden to the Promise of Canaan) is the rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts, and serves as director of Concerned Clergy for Choice for the Education Fund of Family Planning Advocates of New York State in Albany. Rabbi Ross gives talks on "Spirituality in Relationships from the Teachings of Martin Buber," "The Hasidic Stories of Martin Buber," "Religious Support for Stem Cell Research," and "Jewish Views of Intimate Relations, Birth Control and Abortion." Although most of his speaking is in the Northeast, he is willing to travel anywhere in the U.S. To arrange a program with Rabbi Ross, email him directly at dennis@dennisross.net.

Sylvia A. Rouss (The Littlest Maccabee, The Littlest Tree, God's World (Tikkun Olam), and Tali's Jerusalem Scrapbook) is an early childhood educator in Los Angeles, California. Winner of a National Jewish Book Award, she gives talks throughout the United States and Israel on "Creating Jewish Memories," "How Current Events Have Influenced My Writing," and "How My Books Can Enhance the Early Childhood Curriculum." Rouss accepts a limited number of speaking engagements each year. To arrange a program with her, email her publicist Stuart Schnee at stu@stuartschnee.com or visit her website www.sylviarouss.com.

Lois Ruby (Shanghai Shadows and contributor to Ghosts and Golems) lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A retired librarian, she gives teacher in-service workshops, and creative writing workshops for children and adults. In her talks to young people, she focuses on Jewish values, literacy, multicultural and Jewish literature, skinheads and racism, publishing, and how she came to write her books. Ruby is wiling to drive anywhere in New Mexico, Arizona, and in parts of Texas. She makes frequent visits to Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma and would gladly put people in those areas on her itinerary. She is willing to fly anywhere else, on any continent (though she guesses there is not much Jewish book activity on Antarctica!), as long as her expenses are covered. To arrange a program, email Ruby at loisruby@comcast.net or visit her website www.loisruby.com.

Rebeca Edid Ruzansky (Celebrating with Jewish Crafts) lives in San Diego, California, where she is a certified interior designer and teacher of Jewish holiday craft workshops for young children. Fluent in Spanish and English, Ruzansky has appeared on Telemundo 33, a cable program for the Tijuana and San Diego Latino audiences, to demonstrate cooking and baking techniques. She is willing to travel anywhere within the San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles areas to give workshops for children or adults. To arrange a program, phone Ruzansky at 858-412-7780, email her at rebecaedid@yahoo.com or visit her website www.celebratingwithJewishcrafts.com.

To participate in this website, contact Anna Olswanger.