Literary and Comics Journalism

“‘Replay’ spotlights resilience, loss, and intergenerational connectedness” (book review). NPR, March 21, 2024.

“‘Feeding Ghosts,’ by Tessa Hulls, maps a family’s journey from Mao’s China to the United States today” (book review). The Boston Globe, March 12, 2024.

“The Drawers Keep Popping Open: On Sloane Crosley’s ‘Grief Is for People’” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, March 8, 2024.

“A man fights expectations in ‘I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together’” (book review). NPR, March 2, 2023.

“‘Transitions’ explores the process of a mother’s acceptance of her child’s gender” (book review). NPR, Dec. 8, 2023.

“In his graphic memoir ‘Worm,’ Eden Rodriguez evokes the turmoil and tenderness of life in 1970s Cuba—and details a harrowing escape” (book review). The Boston Globe, Nov. 15, 2023.

“‘Diaries of War traces two personal accounts—one from Ukraine, one from Russia” (book review). NPR, Oct. 27, 2023.

“‘Curlfriends: New in Town’ reminds us that there can be positives of middle school” (book review). NPR, Oct. 13, 2023.

“Tell Them It Is Going To Hurt: On Meg Kissinger’s ‘While You Were Out’” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, October 2, 2023.

“‘A Guest in the House’ rests on atmosphere, delivering an uncanny, wild ride” (book review). NPR, August 28, 2023.

“A look at the tumultuous life of ‘Persepolis’ as it turns 20” (essay). NPR, August 17, 2023.

“‘The Talk’ is an epic portrait of an artist making his way through hardships” (book review). NPR, June 8, 2023.

“Why friendships end—and why our memories of them fade” (book review). The Washington Post, May 17, 2023.

“‘Sunshine’ centers on a life-changing summer for author Jarrett J. Krosoczka” (book review). NPR, April 21, 2023.

“A memoir of life-changing friendship and sudden loss” (book review). The Washington Post, April 13, 2023.

“Mostly through images, a daughter grieves her mother in ‘Ephemera’” (book review). NPR, April 9, 2023.

“What happens when you try to capture a love affair in an infographic?” (book review). The Washington Post, Jan. 31, 2023.

“Digging through the Past: A Conversation with Rutu Modan” (interview). PBdaily (Jewish Book Council), Dec. 6, 2021.

“Warp and Weft” (interview with Shira Spector). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 38, Issue 2 (March/April), 2021.

“Discussing the Holocaust at Comic-Con” (blog post). The Lilith Blog (Lilith.org), August 4, 2020.

“An Interview with Gabrielle Bell” (interview). The Believer (believermag.com), March 26, 2020.

“Stein Way” (interview with Maira Kalman, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 37, Issue 2 (March/April), 2020.

“Pen and Tell Her.” Review of Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival, edited by Diane Noomin, and Commute, by Erin Williams (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 36, Issue 5 (Sept./Oct.­­­­), 2019.

“Revelations.” Review of How I Tried to Be a Good Person, by Ulli Lust, and Hot Comb, by Ebony Flowers (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 36, Issue 3 (May/June), 2019.

“Eavesdropping for a better world” (interview with Mira Jacob). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 36, Issue 2 (March/April), 2019.

“An interview with Lauren Weinstein” (interview). The Believer (believermag.com), Jan. 31, 2019.

“‘I really had to reinvent myself’: an interview with Julie Doucet” (interview). Los Angeles Review of Books, Jan. 19, 2019.

“Production vs Reproduction.” Review of This Woman’s Work, by Julie Delporte, and Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, by Lucy Knisley (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 36, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb.), 2019.

“Wake Up Call.” Review of The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic, by Emma, and Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy, by Liv Strömquist (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 35, Issue 6 (Nov./Dec.), 2018.

“An interview with cartoonist Liana Finck” (interview). The Believer (believermag.com), Sept. 20, 2018.

“Afterlives.” Review of Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, by Ari Folman and David Polonsky, and A Bubble, by Geneviève Castrée (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 35, Issue 5 (Sept./Oct.), 2018.

“Graphic Depictions.” Review of Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life, by Ellen Forney, and Graphic Reproduction: A Comics Anthology, edited by Jenell Johnson (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 35, Issue 4 (July/August), 2018.

“Portrait of an Autobiographical Cartoonist: An Interview with Aline Kominsky-Crumb” (interview). Los Angeles Review of Books, July 14, 2018.

“Unframed.” Review of Charlotte Salomon and the Theatre of Memory, by Griselda Pollock (book review). Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 35, Issue 3 (May/June Issue), 2018.

Introduction to Emily Steinberg’s “Berlin Story: Time, Memory, Place” (essay). Cleaver Magazine, Issue 20, Dec. 2017.

“The things that scare you”: Dominique Goblet’s Pretending Is Lying (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, June 8, 2017.

“Over-thinking Life and Death with Roz Chast” (essay). Paper Brigade (new literary magazine from Jewish Book Council), Fall 2016.

Review of Nadja Spiegelman’s You’re Supposed to Protect Me From All This (book review). Public Books, site affiliated with Public Culture, Nov. 1, 2016. Reposted on The Guardian, Nov. 9, 2016.

“Reading Aloud with Julie Doucet” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, June 24, 2016.

Review of The Complete Wimmin’s Comix (book review). The Comics Journal, April 21, 2016.

“Drawing a Room of Her Own” (guest blog). Jewish Book Council, April 4, 2016.

“On Writing a Jewish Book” (essay). Lilith Magazine, Winter 2016.

“The Unapologetic Pursuit of Pleasure” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, Dec. 12, 2015.

“An Aesthetic of Expansiveness: Drawn & Quarterly at 25 Years” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, July 23, 2015.

Introduction to Emily Steinberg’s “A Mid Summer Soiree,” a visual narrative (essay). Cleaver Magazine, Issue 10, June 2015.

Review of Calling Dr. Laura, by Nicole J. Georges (book review). Graphic Medicine blog, posted May 28, 2015.

Introduction to Miriam Libicki’s “Turning Right on Cassady,” a visual essay (essay). Cleaver Magazine, Issue 9, March 2015.

“Liz Prince’s Tomboy Looks at Growing Up Outside Gender Norms” (interview). BookTrib, Sept. 21, 2014.

“Telling Her Own Secrets: MariNaomi’s Autobiographical Comics” (interview). BookTrib, Sept. 16, 2014.

Introduction to Emily Steinberg’s Broken Eggs: A Visual Narrative (essay). Cleaver Magazine, Issue 7, Sept. 2014. Most read story/poem/essay in Cleaver in 2014; republished on GraphicMedicine.org, Nov. 5, 2014.

“Women Moving in From the Comic Sidelines.” Review of The Big Feminist But: Comics about Women, Men and the IFs, ANDs & BUTs of Feminism (book review). Lilith Magazine, Fall 2014.

“Escape from a Life Without Waves: Julie Delporte’s Everywhere Antennas” (book review). Los Angeles Review of Books, Aug. 31, 2014. Included on best online comics criticism 2014 list, Hooded Utilitarian

Interview with Roz Chast on Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (interview). Jewish Book Council, Aug. 13, 2014.

Interview with Anya Ulinich on Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel : A Graphic Novel (interview). Jewish Book Council, July 29, 2014.

“Gabrielle Bell Shares the Pros and Cons of Personal Diary as Graphic Novel” (interview). BookTrib, July 21, 2014.

“Feminist Hero Esther Broner Changed the ‘Order’ of Things” (film review). The Arty Semite, a blog on culture and art from The Forward, July 3, 2014.       

Review of Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work, edited by Leonard S. Marcus (book review). Cleaver Magazine, April 7, 2014.

Review of Blue is the Warmest Color, by Julie Maroh (book review). The Comics Alternative, Feb. 18, 2014.

“Beyond the Book: Vanessa Davis Responds to Art Spiegelman’s Co-Mix” (gallery talk review). Jewish Book Council, Feb. 12, 2014.

Interview with Nancy K. Miller on Breathless: An American Girl in Paris (interview). Jewish Book Council, Dec. 9, 2013.

Interview with Howard Jacobson on “The Swag Man” (interview). Jewish Book Council, July 19, 2013.

“Visual Elegies: Notes on the Legacy of Kim Thompson” (editor’s blog). Cleaver Magazine, July 10, 2013.     

Review of Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, by Ulli Lust (book review). Cleaver Magazine, June 21, 2013.

“The Poetry of Comics” (editor’s blog). Cleaver Magazine, June 6, 2013.

“Sholem Aleichem’s ‘Bushels and Baskets of Stories’” (film review). The Arty Semite, a blog on culture and art from The Forward, July 8, 2011.

“Of Women, Comics, and Reclaiming Jewish Stereotypes” (essay). The Arty Semite, a blog on culture and art from The Forward, June 22, 2011.

“Amos Oz on Not Writing Universally” (film review). The Arty Semite, a blog on culture and art from The Forward, May 13, 2011.

“Documenting a Sweatshop Cinderella: Q&A with Suzanne Wasserman” (interview with Anzia Yezierska documentary filmmaker). The Forward, May 5, 2011.

“Stalking Grace: Lily’s Rivlin’s Documentary of Grace Paley” (film review). The Arty Semite, a blog on culture and art from The Forward, March 18, 2011.

Selected other books reviewed for Jewish Book Council (2012-2015): Art Spiegelman’s Co-Mix; Molly Antopol’s The Unamericans; Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?; Jeet Heer’s In Love With Art: Françoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman; Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things, and Maira Kalman’s My Favorite Things.