Janna Malamud Smith

Janna Malamud Smith is an American non-fiction author of five books. She was born in Corvallis, Oregon in 1952, the second of two children born to Ann DeChiara Malamud and the writer Bernard Malamud. She grew up in Oregon, then in Bennington, Vermont, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her A.B. from Harvard University in 1973, majoring in American History and Literature, and an M.S.W. in 1979 from Smith College. She practices and teaches psychotherapy in the Boston area. She is married to David Smith, and is the mother of two children.^[1]

Smith has lectured widely, and has published nationally and internationally in many newspapers, magazines and journals. She is the author of four books. The first two, Private Matters: In Defense of the Personal Life (1997) and A Potent Spell: Mother Love and the Power of Fear (2003) were both chosen as “Notable Books” by The New York Times Sunday Book Review.^[2][3] Her third, My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud (2006) received a “starred” review from Publisher’s Weekly,^[4] was selected as a Washington Post “Best Book of the Year”,^[4] and a New York Times “Editors’ Choice”.^[5] Smith has had essays republished in Best American Essays in 2004^[6] and 2009.^[7] She is a Lecturer in Psychology at Harvard Medical School,^[8] and was on the editorial board of The Harvard Mental Health Letter until it ceased publication in 2012.^[9] As well as teaching about psychotherapy, she teaches workshops in aspects of non-fiction writing.

Books

• Smith, Janna Malamud (1997). Private Matters: In defense of the personal life. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley. . ISBN 0-201-40973-9
• Smith, Janna Malamud (2003). A Potent Spell: Mother love and the power of fear. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-06349-8
• Smith, Janna Malamud (2004). Private Matters: In defense of the personal life. Updated edition with new preface, and new chapter “Privacy Post-9/11.” Seal Press. paperback. ISBN 1-58005-107-3
• Smith, Janna Malamud (2006). My Father Is A Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-69166-9
• Smith, Janna Malamud (2012). An Absorbing Errand: How artists and craftsmen make their way to mastery. Counterpoint. ISBN 1619020041

References

1. Smith, Dinitia (March 9, 2006). "Bernard Malamud's Daughter Finally Tells His Secrets – New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
2. "Notable Books of the Year 1997 – New York Times". The New York Times. December 7, 1997. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
3. "A Potent Spell – Opinions and Reviews". Dsml.org. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
4. http://www.amazon.com/Father-Book-Janna-Malamud-Smith/dp/0618691669/
5. "BEST SELLERS - April 2, 2006 - List". New York Times. April 2, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
6. Houghton Mifflin Company. "Press Release for The Best American Essays 2004 edited by Louis Menand, series edited by Robert Atwan, published by Houghton Mifflin Company". Hmhbooks.com. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
7. "Brevity Book Review". Creativenonfiction.org. October 21, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
8. "Cambridge Health Alliance : News". Challiance.org. March 15, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
9. "Harvard Mental Health Letter: About the Editors – Harvard Health Publications". Health.harvard.edu. Retrieved October 25, 2011.

External links

• jannamalamudsmith.com (official site)
• "Family Plot" Nerve.com interview with Smith by her older son (note: this is via the Wayback Machine because the original page cannot be accessed at the nerve.com site)