Five Questions with Ellyn Gelman

1.) When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I think I have always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t have the courage until I took a free writing class at the Weston library taught by Marcelle Soviero. After that class I enrolled in Marcelle’s memoir class at Westport Writers Workshop. After two years at WWW I went back to school and graduated with an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University.


2.) What do you love most about the writing process?

I sometimes have hard time putting butt in chair, hands on keyboard, but I love having written. That is why my second favorite writing quote is by Dorothy Parker, “I hate writing, I love having written.” I also love what I learn about myself and the world around me when I write.


3.) What do you love most about teaching writing?

What I love most about teaching is bearing witness to each writer’s growth.


4.) What are you reading right now?

I am currently reading H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald and The Odd Woman in the City by Vivian Gornick.


5.) What’s your favorite writing quote?

My favorite writing quote is by Maya Angelou: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

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