Sonia Levitin

Last updated

Sonia Levitin
Born (1934-08-18) August 18, 1934 (age 89)
Berlin, Nazi Germany
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • artist
  • producer
NationalityGerman-American
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
University of Pennsylvania
Spouse Lloyd Levitin
Website
sonialevitin.com

Sonia Wolff Levitin (born August 18, 1934) [1] is a German-American novelist, artist, and producer. Levitin, a Holocaust survivor, has written over forty novels and picture books for young adults and children, as well as several theatrical plays and published essays on various topics for adults. [2]

Contents

Her book Incident at Loring Groves (1988) won an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Early life

Sonia Levitin was born on August 18, 1934, in Berlin, Nazi Germany. Being of Jewish descent, she managed to escape persecution by traveling with her mother and two sisters to Switzerland. Her father, a prominent clothing designer, escaped to New York City and then to Los Angeles where he would raise Sonia and her sisters. [3] Levitin would later write several novels about struggling as an immigrant in the United States; these include: The Journey to America and Silver Days, a series about a family of German Jewish refugees who flee the horrors of the Holocaust. [4]

Always an avid reader, Levitin attended the University of California, Berkeley in 1952 where she would meet her husband, Lloyd Levitin. The two married after one year. She then completed a degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. [5]

Career

Levitin began as a publicity columnist for several newspapers, but after her first novel Journey to America became an instant classic, [6] [7] she began to pick up traction as a professional novelist. Levitin wrote numerous novels for young adults that oftentimes featured semi-autobiographical characters. The most common theme of her writing include courageous main characters faced with difficult challenges, who must "take charge" in order to overcome these obstacles. [8] Her books often describe historical events and tragedies, especially toward Jewish people. [9]

Painter

Levitin is also noted as being a talented painter. Her artwork was displayed in June 2015 for the first time to the public. [10] And the inaugural art show, which was curated by Los Angeles event producer Anthony Angelini, took place at Christofle on Melrose Place in Beverly Hills, CA and was attended by several of the Los Angeles elite. [11] The show featured 10 of Levitin's expressionist paintings which were never-before-seen in the public arena. [12]

Books

Awards

Levitin has won several awards for her writing including:

Related Research Articles

<i>The Day of the Locust</i> 1939 novel by Nathanael West

The Day of the Locust is a 1939 novel by American author Nathanael West set in Hollywood, California. The novel follows a young artist from the Yale School of Fine Arts named Tod Hackett, who has been hired by a Hollywood studio to do scene design and painting. While he works he plans an important painting to be called "The Burning of Los Angeles", a portrayal of the chaotic and fiery holocaust which will destroy the city. While the cast of characters Tod befriends are a conglomerate of Hollywood stereotypes, his greater discovery is a part of society whose "eyes filled with hatred", and "had come to California to die". This undercurrent of society captures the despair of Americans who worked and saved their entire lives only to realize, too late, that the American dream was more elusive than they imagine. Their anger boils into rage, and the craze over the latest Hollywood premiere erupts violently into mob rule and absolute chaos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonia Manzano</span> American actress

Sonia Manzano is an American actress, screenwriter, and author. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015. She received a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy Award in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Yolen</span> American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and childrens books (born 1939)

Jane Hyatt Yolen is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is The Devil's Arithmetic, a Holocaust novella. Her other works include the Nebula Award−winning short story "Sister Emily's Lightship", the novelette "Lost Girls", Owl Moon, The Emperor and the Kite, and the Commander Toad series. She has collaborated on works with all three of her children, most extensively with Adam Stemple.

<i>Everything Is Illuminated</i> 2002 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything Is Illuminated is the first novel by the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2002. It was adapted into a film of the same name starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hütz in 2005.

<i>The Mark of Conte</i> Book by Sonia Levitin

The Mark of Conte is a children's book written by American author Sonia Levitin.

The Holocaust has been a prominent subject of art and literature throughout the second half of the twentieth century. There is a wide range of ways–including dance, film, literature, music, and television–in which the Holocaust has been represented in the arts and popular culture.

<i>Enriques Journey</i> 2006 book by Sonia Nazario

Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother was a national best-seller by Sonia Nazario about a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who travels to the United States in search of his mother. It was first published in 2006 by Random House. The non-fiction book has been published in eight languages, and is sold in both English and Spanish editions in the United States. A young adult version was also published in 2013. The young adult version was published in Spanish in July 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Pressman</span>

Steven Pressman is an American documentary filmmaker, journalist, author of two books, and director/producer of the documentary film 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. Randol Schoenberg</span> American lawyer

Eric Randol Schoenberg is an American lawyer and genealogist, based in Los Angeles, California, specializing in legal cases related to the recovery of looted or stolen artworks, particularly those by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.

April Halprin Wayland is an American children's and young adult author, poet, and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarita Engle</span> American childrens writer, columnist, poet

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and author of many award-winning books for children, young adults and adults. Most of Engle's stories are written in verse and are a reflection of her Cuban heritage and her deep appreciation and knowledge of nature. She became the first Latino awarded a Newbery Honor in 2009 for The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom. She was selected by the Poetry Foundation to serve from 2017 to 2019 as the sixth Young People's Poet Laureate. On October 9, 2018, Margarita Engle was announced the winner of the 2019 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature. She was nominated by 2019 NSK Prize jury member Lilliam Rivera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nava Semel</span> Israeli author, playwright, screenwriter and translator

Nava Semel was an Israeli author, playwright, screenwriter and translator. Her short story collection Kova Zekhukhit was the first work of fiction published in Israel to address the topic of the "Second Generation"—children of Holocaust survivors.

Alan Lawrence Sitomer is California's Teacher of the Year (2007) and an author of young adult fiction, teacher methodology texts, and children's literature. He has written several widely held books and has become nationally renowned for his successful work in secondary literacy instruction, particularly when it comes to engaging reluctant readers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lette Valeska</span> German painter

Lette Valeska was a photographer, painter and sculptor in the Hollywood community. When her husband's chemical plant was confiscated by the Nazi regime, she left her homeland of Germany and traveled with her husband and daughter before moving to New York City in 1937. In 1938 she left her husband and moved to Los Angeles, where she spent the rest of her life. She began a photographic career of children's portraits and quickly gained notoriety among Hollywood stars. She worked as an archivist for the Pasadena Art Museum's Blue Four Collection. At the end of World War II, she organized a friendship correspondence between children in California and Ryswyck, Holland out of gratitude for Ryswyck citizens' assistance to holocaust refugees. At age 50, Valeska began painting and at age 70 began sculpting. She was featured in the Emmy award winning NBC documentary "The Heart Is Not Wrinkled" in 1969.

Kathy Kacer is a Canadian author of fiction and non-fiction for children about The Holocaust, and has written one adult fiction book (Restitution). She has won several awards and her books have been translated into a variety of languages. As well as writing, she speaks to children about the Holocaust, and to educators about teaching sensitive issues to young children.

Sonia Taitz is an American author, essayist and playwright. She has written for The New York Times, as a columnist at the New York Observer, and served as contributing editor for Child, a New York Times publication. Her books include Mothering Heights, the novels In The King's Arms and Down Under, and a literary memoir, The Watchmaker's Daughter.

Anthony Alexander Angelini, is an American entrepreneur, event producer, and humanitarian. He gained distinction for his involvement in charitable events in the Southern California area, and through his family business Angelini Trading Company.

Sonia Pilcer is an American author, playwright, and poet, best known for her semi-autobiographical novels Teen Angel and The Holocaust Kid. She is responsible for coining the term "2G" to refer to Second Generation Holocaust survivors in a 1990 essay of the same name for 7 Days magazine.

Sue Alexander was an American writer of children's literature. She authored 26 books for children as well as "scores of stories" for newspapers and magazines. She was also a children's book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. She was a charter member and advisory board member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, which established two awards in her name in recognition of her efforts to educate and mentor aspiring writers.

<i>Boom Town</i> (book) 1998 picture book by Sonia Levitin

Boom Town is a 1998 historical fiction picture book written by Sonia Levitin, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith and published by Orchard Books. Boom Town tells the story of Amanda and her family after they move to California to accompany her father in his search for gold during the California Gold Rush. To alleviate her boredom, Amanda figures out how to bake pies, and by a combination of circumstance and cleverness she starts a successful bakery that kickstarts the settlement into becoming a boomtown.

References

  1. Levitin, Sonia. "Biography." Sonia Levitin. Official Website, 2015. Web. May 13, 2015. <http://www.sonialevitin.com/main/about/>.
  2. "Sonia Levitin: Biography". Author's Official website. Archived from the original on November 17, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  3. Frischer, Rita Berman. "Sonia Levitin." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. March 1, 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on May 13, 2015) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/levitin-sonia>.
  4. "Sonia Levitin". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  5. Frischer. p2.
  6. Drew, Bernard Alger (2002). 100 More Popular Young Adult Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies. Libraries Unlimited. pp. 181–. ISBN   9781563089206 . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  7. Frischer, Rita Berman, “Sonia Levitin’s Return” Los Angeles Jewish Journal, January 19–25 (1990).
  8. Levitin, Sonia. Essay in Something About the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 2, Gale (1986): 111–126; and Volume 68 (1993): 130–134.
  9. Sonia Levitin Papers from the de Grummond Collection, McCain Library and Archives, University of Southern Mississippi, Collection No. DG0611, dates 1970–1989.
  10. "Sonia Levitin Exhibits Art." Jewish Journal. N.p., June 24, 2015. Web. July 19, 2015. <http://www.jewishjournal.com%2Fcommunity_calendar%2Fitem%2Fsonia_levitin_exhibits_art Archived October 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine >.
  11. Marmel, Rosalind. "Award Winning Author Shows New Talent in Painting."Beverly Hills, California Patch. N.p., June 8, 2015. Web. June 10, 2015. <http://patch.com/california/beverlyhills/award-winning-author-shows-new-talent-painting/>.
  12. Tash, Debra. "Sonia Levitin Shows Talent." Citizens Journal. N.p., June 30, 2015. Web. July 19, 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fcitizensjournal.us%2Faward-winning-author-shows-new-talent-in-painting%2F>
  13. "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  14. "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  15. Silver (January 1, 2011). Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens: A JPS Guide. Jewish Publication Society. pp. 237–. ISBN   9780827611214 . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  16. In 1976 and in 1994.
  17. Given in 1989 for the novel "The Return", this award was specifically ironic because it is given by the German Bishops' Conference to "the book which best promotes faith and Christian values.” Levitin was the first Jewish author to be recognized by the German Catholic Church and after a painstaking decision, she decided to return to Germany for the first time since the holocaust to accept the prize in person.