Patricia Averbach

Fiction Writer

Beachwood, OH
Ohio US

Author's Bio

Patricia Averbach began her writing career at sixteen as the entirely unqualified literary assistant to Anzia Yeszierska, Jewish-American author of the immigrant experience.  A native Clevelander, she’s a former director of The Chautauqua Writers Center in Chautauqua, New York. Her new novel, Dreams of Drowning (Bedazzled Ink, 2024), was a finalist for the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award and Chanticleer’s Somerset Award for Literary Fiction. Previous novels include Painting Bridges (Bottom Dog Press, 2013) and Resurrecting Rain (Golden Antelope Press, 2020). Her poetry chapbook, Missing Persons, (Ward Wood Publishing, 2013) was cited by Times of London Literary Supplement (November 2014) as one of the best small collections of the year. Her work appears in the anthology 101 Jewish Poems for the Third Millenium (Ashland Poetry Press 2021.) She lives with her husband in a suburb of Cleveland when she’s not visiting her daughters in Toronto, Maui and Peru or hanging out in a virtual world called Second Life. To learn more go to http://www.patriciaaverbach.com.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Dreams of Drowning (Bedazzled Ink, 2024)
,
Resurrecting Rain (Golden Antelope Press, 2020)
,
Painting Bridges (Bottom Dog Press, 2013)
Prizes won: 

Titan Gold Literary Award 2024 for Dreams of Drowning

Finalist: Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award 2023 for Dreams of Drowning

Finalist: Chanticleer Somerset Award for Literary Fiction 2023 for Dreams of Drowning

Second Place: Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award 2020 for Resurrecting Rain 

Semi-Finalist: Chanticleer Somerset Award for Literary Fiction 2019 for Resurrecting Rain

First Place: Lumen Camden Prize for Poetry, (London 2013)

 

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Richard Russo Margaret Atwood Elizabeth Strout Louise Penny Ann Patchett Alice Hoffman
What I'm reading now: 
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American, Jewish
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Cleveland, OH
Ohio
Raised in: 
Cleveland, OH
Ohio
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jul 12, 2024