About Judith

The Long-ish Story (a short, formal bio is below)

Though writing was an early passion, I always joked that, “I will write when I’m old!” because I fell in love, first and forever, with dance. After sweating, starving, moving to New York City and dancing professionally for seven years, I turned to theater where I spent a few more years auditioning, performing in unpaid showcases, and working temporary jobs in corporate offices. Often bored to death but trying to look busy, I started typing letters to friends. Really long, paper-and-envelope letters. When I ran out of friends I hadn’t written to in a while, I started writing poems and short stories. One story just kept getting longer and longer until I realized I was writing a novel.

 

The journey to complete The Thrall’s Tale, my first published novel, began in the early 1990s, when I happened upon three full-sized replicas of Viking ships moored in New York Harbor. Years of research followed, including a voyage on an ice-class research vessel from Iceland to Greenland, retracing the path of Erik the Red and the first Norse settlers.  Appropriately enough, Viking published The Thrall’s Tale in 2006 and Plume brought it out in paperback the following year.  It was a critical success with praise from Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler.  Thrall was a Booksense (IndieBound) Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and received some very nice reviews and attention from readers worldwide.

 

After Thrall, I ventured even farther back into history—or beyond it, into the realm of archaeology. Akmaral was inspired by several discoveries in Central Asia, including the Ice Maiden on the Ukok Plateau, called the “Pasture of Heaven” by the people of the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, and the “Gold Man” of Issyk, a warrior burial that researchers believe might actually be a woman. These elaborate burials fascinated me. But the idea for the book came from watching my then-toddler son pretending to battle invisible enemies in our backyard. As I wrestled with his seemingly innate violence (He’s a perfectly charming young gentleman, now that he’s grown.), I questioned what I would fight and die for. I didn’t have to look farther than the boy who’d just fallen off of his stick-horse into the grass.  From this recognition grew Akmaral, my nomad woman warrior who would sacrifice all to defend her people.

I’ve published essays, reviews, short fiction and poetry in many publications and keep adding to the list.  I contributed a chapter to UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World (University of Washington Press) with my name sandwiched impressively between Karl Ove Knausgärd and Barry Lopez. I am also a photographer, with several exhibitions in New York City and a handful of other galleries, though these days my images mostly end up on my Instagram feed. I contributed to the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibition Vikings: The Norse Atlantic Saga and was an expert commentator on the History Channel’s documentary series MANKIND: The Story of All of Us.  (That continues to be fun, especially when one of my young students comes up to me and says, “I saw you on TV in my Social Studies class!”) In fact, I’ll be on a new History Channel documentary releasing in 2024.

These days, I teach a ton through my creative writing center, The Writers Circle, write nearly every day, and am the proud mother of two intelligent, talented young men.  I live with my husband of over 30 years in suburban New Jersey where the New York City skyline is a visual stone’s throw from the forest where I walk, think and talk to myself—in character—most mornings.

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Here’s my short, more formal bio:

Judith Lindbergh’s new novel, Akmaral, about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes, is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing on May 7, 2024. Her debut novel, The Thrall’s Tale, about three women in the first Viking Age settlement in Greenland, was an IndieBound Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and praised by Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, Next Avenue, Writer’s Digest, Edible Jersey, Literary Mama, Archaeology Magazine, Other Voices, and UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World published by University of Washington Press. She also contributed to the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibition Vikings: The Norse Atlantic Saga and provided expert commentary on two documentary series for The History Channel. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder/Director of The Writers Circle, a New Jersey-based creative writing center where she teaches aspiring and accomplished writers from ages 8-80.