Influential Woman · Poet and Writer

Judy Kronenfeld

Lecturer Emerita, UC Riverside

Silver Spring, MD

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree PhD in English (early modern English literature/Renaissance) Degree Smith College (undergraduate) Cert PhD in English Member Modern Language Association

Her Story

About Judy

As a writer, I work mostly alone, but I participate in communities through Zoom events where I'm either reading or joining others who are reading, often in open mics where I get to read some of my recent work. Writers are mostly writing wherever they live or go to write, and it's pretty much a solitary profession, except if you're teaching, which I stopped doing in 2009. My life is totally involved in writing - I'm either working on poems or essays, revising (which I do a lot of), communicating with other writers, going to readings usually online given by other writers, participating in readings, or participating in open mics. There's quite a lot of lively stuff that goes on on Zoom these days for writers. What I've cared about is always artistically writing my truth and being honest, because that's what allows people to connect with each other, to see that other people are often made up of the same things as we are. It takes honesty to do that, and I think all writers are trying to tell their truth.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Judy

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

I don't think I ever received very good career advice, but I have career advice for other people from what I've seen in life. Almost no one, very few people, go in a beeline through a particular profession or walk in life. I think being too direct can be damaging. You want to just fool around and explore and take divergent paths until you discover you may create a combination that didn't exist before. I hate to see kids already have to stymie themselves by choosing one path at 17 or 18, which may not be the path that they're going to be happiest, or most successful, or most creative in. What I've seen from so many people is you almost wind up forging your own path. Like, I went from criticism to creative work, and at the time there was such a divide between those worlds. But things change. Don't be too narrow, is my advice. Accidents can be good things in a life leading you to try out something you didn't know you would like. So, not too rigid is my advice.

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