WRITING IS NOT MY FIRST GIG
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​I’ve also worked as a coffee barista, radio advertising salesperson, and television producer, among other jobs. My resume reads like a ransom note, yet this assortment of life experiences has propelled me toward my big passion, the telling and coaxing of stories.
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​I got hooked on writing fiction while I was producing television because I craved another outlet to tell the stories I was gathering. To learn the craft, I earned an MA in fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University. Regardless of the form or the subject matter, I typically write about mending ruptures of the soul and the freedom that accompanies such healing.
In addition to writing, my grand passion is helping others find and tune their narrative voices. I’ve taught creative writing at the George Washington University, the New Directions Writing Program, and the Johns Hopkins MA in Writing Program, where I received the 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2004, I founded Yeah Write, a writing coaching business which has morphed into the Glen Echo Workshops, a community of writers that I treasure. Each month, thirty or so scribes gather via zoom or in person to dazzle one another and me with their memoir, poetry, and fiction. This group was born out of what is now called The Faye Moskowitz Writers Retreat, an annual winter workshop that I organize and lead along with gifted faculty. In the summer, I teach rising high school seniors how to write college essays. One of my biggest joys in life is helping students identify their superpowers and tell their stories, in their own voices.
​ I love to share my passion for storytelling and have spoken about my books and the creative process at more than 160 venues, including book stores, classrooms, synagogues, and myriad book groups. I heart book clubs, which I had the opportunity to express in this essay for The San Francisco Book Review. I speak widely around the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and have zoomed with groups in Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, and elsewhere.
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Readers have dug deep into my novels, often holding the novel’s flawed characters up as mirrors to examine their own imperfect relationships. I suspect we’ll have plenty to talk about with Draw Near to Me. ​I’d love to visit your community, classroom, or book group. Please contact me directly via my email michellebrafman@gmail.com.
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I grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin and live in Glen Echo, Maryland with my husband Tom Helf. Our two kids are making their way in the Big Apple, and we miss them a lot.
