icon caret-left icon caret-right instagram pinterest linkedin facebook twitter goodreads question-circle facebook circle twitter circle linkedin circle instagram circle goodreads circle pinterest circle

Book Events

Rencontre au bibliothèque de Ménerbes

Praise for The Nine

  • Goodreads list of NEW & ANTICIPATED HISTORIES & BIOGRAPHIES
  • "Though the dangers the women face are significant, their unorthodox means of travel help contribute to an unexpected feeling of picaresque adventure, as the women lie and scavenge their way toward freedom... The women's bravery and ingenuity as they traverse an almost apocalyptic landscape makes for a thrilling narrative...Gripping." —Shelf Awareness
  • "An incredible story about the power of friendship and the faith in humanity in one of the darkest times in history." —Lee Woodruff
  • "[Strauss] gets her facts right... A breathless story of almost superhuman heroism and suffering with a (mostly) happy ending." —Kirkus
  • "A paean to female bravery and life-saving friendship." —iNews
  • "Intimate.. chilling... A moving testament to the power of friendship" —Booklist
  • "The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will." —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network
  • "Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday." —Agnès Triebel, Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee.

FROM THE ARCHIVES OF PAST EVENTS

PAST EVENT on March 23, 2023 - Veteran's Breakfast Club 

If you missed this wonderful conversation here's a link to a recording of the event.

PAST EVENT on March 7, 2022 Dan Snow's History Hit Podcast Interview

  • 'Dan Snow's History Hit' explores the deep history behind today's headlines – giving you the context to understand what is going on today. Dan and I had a lovely conversation about The Nine.
  • Here's a link to the podcast with Dan Snow

PAST EVENT on November 19 at the National World War II Museum

PAST EVENT from November 3 with Richmond Hill Public Library

PAST EVENT from July 18 with Zack Rogow

PAST EVENT from May 23

PAST EVENT from May 20

PAST EVENT from May 5th

  • In case you missed the talk with Time Brady at Shakespeare and Co. NY we have a zoom recording.
  • here's the Link
  • and here's the Access Passcode: azUH7Cc&

 PAST EVENT from April 6

  • Virtual Event on History Author Talks with Tim Brady, author of THREE ORDINARY GIRLS: The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins and WWII Heroes, and with Alex Kershaw, author of Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris
  • If you missed the event here's the link to watch

My talk at American Univeristy of Paris, September 2019

 

Here's the link to the talk I gave at the American University of Paris in 2019, while I was still writing The Nine.

Vermont Studio Center January 2020

view_vsc.jpg

 

The view from my perfect writing studio at the Vermont Studio Center where I was so lucky to get a month-long fellowship to work on The Nine. I could not have done it without this time and space. Endless gratitude!

Walter Benjamin, a refugee in Paris, spent his time in the national library.

I'm very proud that my essay was published in Catapult. Now I can stop obsessively re-writing it and get on with other projects!

Reading to the fifth graders of Garrison

I visited the Garrison Performing Arts School in Savannah and read The Hiding Game to 80 fifth graders. We played Cadavre Esquise together and talked about what it takes to write a book.

Some of the surrealist drawings we did together!
Collective collage at the book launch party

We had a wonderful book lunch in Savannah. I enjoyed seeing old friends and sharing the Hiding Game with others. We set up a table for people to make a collective collage as the artists did at the Villa Air-Bel.

My most recent publications include a novel excerpt titled "The Reef" in the Catamaran Literary Reader, two short short stories titled, "Ice" and "Take the Spaceship" in Two Bridges Literary Arts Journal, and my poem "Reading Kafka's Letters at Sea" in Sou'Wester.

ESOC performed Train of Stones at the Luxembourg Theater Festival this June!

Director Ruth Ann Armstrong as the Witch
The Fox Witch

I was so thrilled to see this performance of my poems with music and in a wonderful setting!

Trail of Stones by Gwen Strauss
31 August and 7 September 2013
Outdoor performances at the International Centre for Forestry Arts, Darmstadt