Blog

Judith Lindbergh, novelist, creative writing teacher and director of The Writers Circle

So far I’ve lived a rather feline existence. Starting as a professional dancer, I never would have thought I would transform myself first into an actress, then into a travel writer and accidentally (really!) a photographer, and finally, after a long time working on the side or on the sly, to seeing my first novel in print.

The Thrall’s Tale, about three women in the first Viking Age settlement in 10th century Greenland, was published by Viking Penguin in 2006 and is now in paperback from Plume. It was a Booksense Pick, a Borders Original Voices selection, and a featured selection of Reading Group Choices and Readers Club of America. There have been other detours, including a surprisingly satisfying stint as a web designer and project manager in Information Technology, a job I honestly was reluctant to leave when I won the brass ring and could finally turn to writing full time.

My latest novel is currently in the hands of my agent; and as superstitious as I am, I won’t write much about it until I know it’s fate. One thing I promise: my subjects are obscure. I am fascinated by the cultures and history of places and people mostly forgotten. My passion lies in understanding their worlds, in imagining their true nature and finding a commonality that I believe lies in all human existence across space and time. In archaeology particularly, I find my greatest inspiration. A single artifact – a stick, a bone, a piece of jewelry, an abandoned child’s toy – often speaks to me with the voice of the person who made it, or last touched it before it dropped to the ground and was covered by mud or dust, forgotten through time.

I am hopelessly unfamiliar with what is popular or chic, a trait that friends and family tease me for but which I honestly cherish. Investigations of the past – through archaeology, history, anthropology, and myth – give me my greatest kicks. To have the chance to “relive” them through my fiction broadens my understanding of the world, nature, and the power of the human spirit.

Find our more about my work at: www.judithlindbergh.com and about The Writers Circle.

Write to me at: info AT writerscircleworkshops.com.