Ben Birnbaum

"Everywhere I go, I carry in my backpack a slight sheaf of poems and occasional essays. Current subjects include my practice of walking twice around a local pond most days at dawn; the diary of 1888 kept by one William Merrill, a 30-year-old Vermont bachelor farmer who spent the year lovesick over a 17-year-old girl from a neighboring town; and the idea of unbelief in Judaism. Some larger projects also occupy me, though flirtations with larger projects are very dangerous for a man who writes in hours he steals from other loves and duties. The darling of my imagination at the moment is a novel about a detective in New York City. (I know the subject's been covered, but probably not by someone who knows as little about police work as I know.) I also think longingly about a set of essays on Jewish prayer and post-modern Jewish life. I am in research (on prayer) and remain uncertain as to whether I have the means; but the reading is good."

Biography

"I was born Binyahmin Birnbaum in Brooklyn, New York, and have lived as an adult in Vermont and Massachusetts for the most part. As regards formal education, I hold degrees from Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Queens College (New York), and the University of Vermont. I have been a professional writer for three decades, publishing essays, poetry, fiction, op-ed, and journalism. Married with three children, I hold a triune appointment at Boston College: editor of Boston College Magazine, executive director of the Office of Marketing Communications, and advisor to the president."