Levine, Stephanie Wellen 1968-

PERSONAL:

Born January 11, 1968, in Jersey City, NJ; daughter of Arthur M. (a certified public accountant) and Carol Beth (a teacher) Levine. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Brown University, A.B. (magna cum laude); Harvard University, Ph.D. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cambridge, MA. Agent—Tina Dubois Wexler, International Creative Management, 825 8th Ave., New York, NY 10019. E-mail—swlevine@verizon.net.

CAREER:

Tufts University, Medford, MA, lecturer, 1999—. Public speaker.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Moment Book Award for nonfiction, Moment, 2004, for Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls.

WRITINGS:

Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls, New York University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stephanie Wellen Levine told CA: "My first book, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls, describes one of the most fascinating years of my life. I lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, home of the Lubavitchers, a sect of Hasidic Jews famous for their messianic fervor and their desire to bring less-religious Jews into the Orthodox fold. This project captured many of the themes that motivate me as a writer. Passionate religious belief has always drawn me, and most Lubavitchers enjoy a faith that is vibrant, strong, and life defining. Writing about other people's spiritual lives is both difficult and thrilling for me. It requires intensive, heartfelt, often grueling conversations with the people I'm profiling. I am constantly seeking meaning in my own life, and describing others' beliefs bolsters my quest. Detached analysis alone has never excited me; I like to engage personally with the ideas I encounter—and, usually, to weave something I discover into my own worldview.

"Though most Lubavitchers accept their culture's philosophy and lifestyle, a fair minority begin to doubt, and some rebel in intriguing ways. I met a former Hasidic girl who worked in a strip club, a brilliant, passionate young woman whose parents kicked her out of their home when she stopped following Jewish law, a girl who combined a craving for the messiah with a lineup of forbidden male phone pals, and many other intriguing limit-pushers. I had a wonderful time describing these questioners. I love writing about social boundaries and the dangers of reaching beyond them. Some of the most compelling people cannot or will not fit within their social worlds. The problem of difference—of living at the margins of a culture or of social expectation—is deeply compelling to me, probably because I myself am a bit of a nonconformist.

"Currently, I'm working on a novel set in a fictional Hasidic community, and the same themes predominate. What intrigues me most as a writer is people: their quirks and quandaries, their desires, obsessions, doubts, and beliefs. My previous book had explored real people; now I am creating characters—but it's amazing how similar the process feels. My imaginary characters seem real to me. I can picture them in my mind, envision how they might react to various situations. So as I write about them, one overarching challenge feels deeply familiar: empathy. I have to imagine what another person is feeling and thinking throughout a host of traumas, triumphs, and typical daily events.

"Still, fiction differs profoundly from nonfiction. With my nonfiction book, I felt compelled to get the facts straight. I was writing about actual people in a real community, so I needed to be accurate. Any deviation from the truth would misrepresent the people who had trusted me with their lives. With a novel there is no ‘truth’; anything can happen. This is profoundly freeing. I can create whatever and whomever I want, with no fear that a real human being will feel betrayed or misunderstood. No quirk or obsession is off limits; my characters can be as eccentric—or, for that matter, crazy—as I choose. But there's a downside to this latitude. Theoretically, fiction has no boundaries beyond the author's own mind. Readers must believe in the story, though. People, events, and situations have to feel real. And since I don't have any objective truth to fall back on, I need to cull a believable story from my own head. The Hasidic setting for my novel makes this particularly challenging. I am constantly discussing events and characters' thoughts with actual Hasidim to be sure my fictional world is plausible.

"Despite the challenges, I have loved writing this novel. In fact, I've begun work on another one. Though this new project moves away from the Hasidic focus, my old themes of spiritual grappling and nonconformity appear in this book as well—along with another passion of mine: education, and the problems those who don't fit into a school's narrowly defined expectations can face. I loved writing Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers as well, and I'm sure I'll complete more nonfiction books in the coming years. I'm happiest when I'm immersed in writing projects and hope to complete many throughout my life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Jewish History, March, 2004, Sarah Bunin Benor, review of Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls, p. 140.

Kliatt, September, 2005, Nola Theiss, review of Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers, p. 36.

Library Journal, October 15, 2003, Marcia Welsh, review of Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers, p. 98.

Publishers Weekly, September 29, 2003, review of Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers, p. 59.