Literary Reflections

Attended a lovely zoom yesterday. Presented by the journal Jewish Renaissance, Executive Director Aviva Dautch chaired the evening which was to promote the current issue of the journal, and then to celebrate the publication in English of a hitherto undiscovered story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Editor Rebecca Taylor and Aviva Dautch make a dynamic team, and the magazine seems to be (our grandchildren would say) flying. Actress Juliet Stevenson read extracts from the story, called Trio. Singer scholar David Stromberg and Eddy Portnoy, a historian of Yiddish pop culture, both spoke about Singer himself, his life and his loves.
The story is about someone who has become a successful writer, and someone who hasn`t – not to mention relationships, of course – and it was inevitable that I was plunged into a process of self-reflection. That`s what good stories do, isn`t it? They make you think. For better or for worse, any good story about a writer makes me think about myself as one.
First of all. What I have produced. In the fictional and unlikely event of all my work suddenly being discovered and promoted, the whole thing would add up to no more than about eight plays, three and a half novels, fifteen short stories, and a dozen or so poems. Even if some agent or publisher had thought really well of the work, no-one would have made millions out of me.
(Although…I am certain that of all my plays, The Song of Deborah, which is available on the website Smiths Scripts…still has a way to go.)
I`m don`t quite count my memoir M E and Me, even though I get regular interest in this, and great comments – could even say compliments. (Find it on Amazon, look for Deborah Freeman, M E and Me.)
But there is always more to it, when I take a step back to reflect on my love of writing; my minor, very minor achievements, versus my desire to have had a career that connected me with people, social circumstances, politics with a small p, suffering. So yes, a lot to think about. As always.