Judith Katz

Judith Katz (born 1951) is an American playwright, thespian, and novelist. Her debut novel, Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound (1992), won a Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.

Early life and education

Judith Katz was born in 1951 in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she grew up in a traditional Jewish family. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

She graduated with a bachelor's in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973. ^{[1] [2]} While at UMass Amherst, she experienced homophobia at the student women's center, which led her to come out as a lesbian by publishing the article "Hard Ass Dyke Tells All" in the school newspaper. ^[1]

Career

Katz is known for her work as a playwright, novelist, and theater-maker. Katz's writing frequently features lesbian and Jewish characters, including in both of her novels. ^{[1] [2]}

Her first full-length play was The Franny Chicago Play, which was originally produced in 1973. ^[1] The play explores the relationships among three lesbian women, two of whom are grappling with the third's suicide. ^{[4] [5]}

Later in 1973, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where she worked with the Magic Theatre as a playwright-in-residence, technician, producer, and performer until 1977. ^{[1] [2]}

In 1977, she returned to western Massachusetts, where she obtained a master's in theater from Smith College in 1979 and co-founded the Chrysalis Theatre Eclectic. ^[1] For her master's thesis, she wrote Tribes: A Play of Dreams, a family drama with allusions to women's history. ^{[2] [6]}

Katz moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1983 to work with the feminist theater group At the Foot of the Mountain. ^{[1] [7]} While with the group, she wrote and performed in plays such as The Monster in My Mother's House. ^[8]

In 1992, she published her first novel, Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound. ^{[1] [2] [3] [7]} The book tells the story of a woman named Nadine Pagan as she deals with her difficult Jewish family and settles in a lesbian Jewish community known as New Chelm, featuring references to Jewish mysticism, including the dybbuk of Jewish folklore. ^{[2] [9] [10]} It won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction the following year. ^{[1] [2] [11]}

Her next novel, The Escape Artist, was released in 1997. ^{[3] [7]} A historical novel set in early 20th-century Poland and Argentina, it follows a Jewish lesbian girl navigating the underworld of Buenos Aires. ^[12]

From the early 1980s until her retirement in 2020, she also worked as an adjunct and academic advisor for the Departments of English and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota. ^{[1] [2] [7]} She also taught at the Loft Literary Center and as an adjunct at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Hamline University, and Macalester College. ^{[1] [7]} Additionally, Katz has long been involved in lesbian feminist and peace organizing. ^{[1] [13]}

Her papers are held as part of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota Libraries. ^[1]

References

1. "Judith Katz Papers". University of Minnesota Libraries. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
2. Shatzky, Joel; Taub, Michael (1997-07-16). Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 166–173. ISBN   978-0-313-03329-2.
3. "Judith Katz". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
4. Koerner, Elaine (1974-10-30). "The Blue Sneaker Playwright". The Valley Advocate.
5. "The Franny Chicago Play". Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
6. Kraft, Stephanie (1979-05-09). "Tribal Histories". The Valley Advocate.
7. Huynh, Hamy (2020-05-15). "Judith Katz: Writer, Teacher, Academic Advisor, Troublemaker, Retiree". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
8. "Playwright-actress to speak". The Duluth News Tribune. 1984-05-26.
9. Howe, Mica; Aguiar, Sarah Appleton (2001). He Said, She Says: An RSVP to the Male Text. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 34–36. ISBN   978-0-8386-3915-3.
10. "Women's Fiction". Seattle Gay News. 1995-05-19.
11. "5th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. 1993-07-14. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
12. Scott, Tara (2017-12-20). "The Escape Artist by Judith Katz: Book Review". The Lesbian Review. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
13. Stern, Ella (2024-09-25). "The Chain of History: a conversation with three Jewish lesbian activists". Minnesota Women's Press. Retrieved 2025-06-03.