She stands in a doorway, her hands in her pockets, her gaze directed off to the side. Jeannie Vanasco and Amy Berkowitz are two writersĪn image of a woman is presented, wearing a white outfit and a blue headscarf.

What started as a conversation over email in September of 2019 had culminated in a Google Doc by March of 2020.

In February of 2020, the two came together in Washington DC and shared a hummus platter at a bar before attending an event at East City Bookshop to talk about their writing. Jeannie and Amy read each other’s works and began to communicate through lengthy emails. While conversing, they recognized that both of them wanted to delve into the less-documented elements of sexual violence in their writing.Ī few months following the writing conference, both Tender Points and Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl were released – Tender Points from Nightboat Books and the latter from Tin House. At present, she is occupied in writing a novel about the association between pals in the wake of sexual assault.Īt a 2019 writing conference in Mendocino, California, Amy and Jeannie crossed paths during the last minutes of the event.Īmy had just acquired a copy of The Glass Eye, which Jeannie had signed, and was excited to hear about the upcoming release of Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl. Her writings concerning chronic ailment and medical sexism have been featured in Bitch and Wolfman Books’ New Life Quarterly. To counter the expectation that such stories must be told in a linear structure, she co-arranged Sick Fest in 2016, a free and open event in Oakland that included performances and readings by disabled and ailing performers. It reflects on Berkowitz’s own experience of being assaulted by a doctor and how difficult it is to portray such a violation. This lyric essay focuses on chronic pain, patriarchy, and trauma stemming from sexual violence. Currently, Jeannie instructs college students on the art of writing about their lives.Īmy Berkowitz is the author of Tender Points, which was initially released in 2015 and reissued in 2019. Her first book, The Glass Eye (2017), looks at her mourning for her late father, his sorrow for his deceased daughter from a previous marriage, and Jeannie’s rising obsession with her. This book delves into the concept of the “nice guy” myth, exploring the language related to sexual assault and the potential for forgiveness. In her second work, Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl (2019), she interviews the individual who sexually assaulted her during their sophomore year in college. Jeannie Vanasco has written two unconventional memoirs that explore her life experiences.

The Glass Eye by Jeannie Vanasco