Award-winning writer Pamela Reitman has numerous publications in literary journals, news outlets, and magazines. Her forthcoming novel, Charlotte Salomon Paints Her Life, has been called “a powerful historical novel, at turns winsome and wrenching, about a gifted artist caught in the maelstrom of madness and war” by Peggy Kurkowski of Foreward Reviews. Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel for Inside the Mirror, Parul Kapur, writes: “a gorgeous, haunting portrait of a willful young Jewish woman who paints to save her life, to remember everything in images and words, as Nazi jackboots approach.”

Pamela believes that, like many women artists of the past, Charlotte Salomon deserves more attention, and to spread the word about her, she developed a passionate desire to imagine the life and work of this young German-Jewish genius in fiction. Her hope is that her novel will propel readers to discover and appreciate the artist’s work for themselves. Darcy C. Buerkle, Professor of History, Smith College, and author of Nothing Happened: Charlotte Salomon and an Archive of Suicide writes: “Reitman’s is a clarion reminder of why not turning away remains imperative under any and all circumstances.”

Pamela is retired from a career in public health and years of community service in the fields of Alzheimer’s Disease and mental health. She received a B.A cum laude in English from Columbia University and a Master of Public Health in Environmental Science from the University of California Berkeley. As Director Emerita of Makor Or: a Jewish Meditation Center in San Francisco, she likes to participate in Jewish life and learning and serve people in their search for meaning and a better relationship with their own humanity and that of others. She is lay ordained in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition.

Her work and recognitions can be found here:

Short Stories, Poetry, Essays, and Recognitions

Complete List of Published Works

AWA Affiliate

California Writers Club (Redwood Writers)

Women’s Fiction Writers

The Historical Novel Society

Women’s National Book Association