Anita Diamant (born June 27, 1951) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books. She is best known for her most successful novel The Red Tent which was a New York Times best seller. She has also written several guides for Jewish people including The New Jewish Wedding and Living a Jewish Life.

Early life and Education

Diamant spent her early childhood in Newark, New Jersey and moved to Denver, Colorado when she was 12 years old. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for two years but did not complete her studies there. She transferred to Washington University in St. Louis where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature in 1973. Anita then went on to receive a Master's Degree in English from Binghamton University in 1975.

Career

Diamant started her writing career in 1975 as a freelance journalist, for which she won awards. Her articles have been published in the Boston Globe magazine, Parenting magazine, New England Monthly, Yankee, Self, Parents, McCalls, and Ms.

She branched out into books with the release of The New Jewish Wedding published in 1985. Her debut as a novelist came in 1997 with The Red Tent. She has published two further novels, Good Harbour and The Last Days of Dogtown, a fictionalised account of life in a dying Cape Ann village in the early 19th century.

Diamant is also the founding president of Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center, a community based ritual bath located in Newton, Massachusetts.

She currently lives in Boston, is married, and has one adult daughter.

Bibliography

Fiction

• The Red Tent (1997)
• Good Harbor (2001)
• The Last Days of Dogtown (2005)

Non-fiction

• The New Jewish Wedding (1985, revised 2001)
• Living a Jewish Life (1991, revised 2007)
• Pitching My Tent (1995, 2005)
• Choosing a Jewish Life (1998)
• Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew (1998)
• How to Be a Jewish Parent (2000)
• The New Jewish Baby Book (2005)

External links

• Her Home Page
• Mayyim Hayyim Home Page

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