4 Local Authors | Mondays, March 3-31,2025 | 12-1pm | $18
Join us each week as we meet with local authors from around the Philadelphia area. Soup lunch will be provided as you meet the authors, participate in a Q&A about their works, and learn about their titles and backgrounds. Authors will also have their books available for purchase. If you want to come to just one or a few of these programs, please email rachel@phillyjcc.com for a prorated rate.

• March 3 – Wendy Horowitz: Wendy A. Horwitz is the author of Milkweed and Honey Cake: A Memoir in Ritual Moments. Her essays have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Afterimage, Neurology (Humanities Section), Jewish Literary Journal, Intrepid Times, and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. Originally trained as a pediatric psychologist, she lives in Philadelphia, where she teaches writing and health humanities.
• March 10 – Norrin Ripsman: Norrin Ripsman, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University, has ventured into the world of fiction with his novel, The Oracle of Spring Garden Road.  Inspired by his father’s advice to pursue his passions, Ripsman began writing fiction in 2021, leading to the publication of his first collection of short stories, Song Book. His novel explores the life of a homeless man, shedding light on the often overlooked stories of those living on the margins.
• March 24 – Polly Zavadivker: Polly Zavadivker is associate professor of history at the University of Delaware who teaches and writes about the Holocaust, refugees, World War I in Russia, Jews in Eastern Europe, antisemitism, and genocide and memory culture. We will be discussing her book A Nation of Refugees: Russia’s Jews in World War I.
• March 31 – Margaret Mandell: Margaret S. Mandell is an emerging memoirist who began writing letters to her late husband as a way to cope with his loss. Her heartfelt journey is captured in her debut book, And Always One More Time. Margaret’s writing reflects her lifelong love for storytelling, which began in childhood and continued through her career as an educator and admissions director.