What, Why, How: Janice Eidus

Photo credit: Alma Kastan What:

 In second grade, I proudly wrote my very first poem; it celebrated New York City where I lived: “I love the city/ It is so pretty.”

My desire back then was to grow up to become a writer of all genres: poet, playwright, short story writer, and novelist. As a young teen, I wrote plays and fiction about happy families – the opposite of my own — as well as short “novels” about imaginary cities and the imaginary people who lived in them.

Entering my 20s, my first p...