Read "It took 50 years to process the last loss. I don’t have another 50." here at Jweekly.com
author, editor, educator
The Lemon Tree (2022)
Inspired by her late friend who hid much of her art in her attic, and the stories of her writer and artist friends, Nitza Agam has compiled the truth behind what drives women writers and artists to express their creativity. What are the struggles, the obstacles, and the triumphs and joys? All reside in this diverse collection of women who have known, some from an early age, the need to create using words or images or both. They may have realized this while pursuing another path, or knew as children, the higher calling of documenting their lives, or expressing their inner selves. Nitza Agam kept journals since the age of eight, while Gretchen Butler knew when her children were toddlers that the kitchen actually was an artist’s inspiration. Marlene Shikegawa knew as a young Japanese American girl the joy of seeing her drawings on a bulletin board at school and feeling “seen” for the first time. That moment of being seen, no longer invisible, drew these women to trace their “origin” stories.
Love Letters To My Mother (2017)
As her mother lay dying in a hospital bed, author Nitza Agam wrestled with the heartrending challenges of being not only a daughter caring for a mother but also a mother and wife tending to her own family When her mother died, a piece of Agam did too.
In Love Letters, Agam movingly reveals the unbreakable, supportive bond she shared with her mother, Naomi. In poetry and prose, she eloquently describes a mutual love that was pure, passionate, and all consuming - even when she left her mother behind in Israel to move to California.
In writing her story, Agam was inspired by The Book of Ruth, the biblical account that chronicles the greatest heights of love between two women, and the challenges these women faced in a hostile world. Far more than one woman's tribute to her mother, Love Letters is a testament to the power of the mother-daughter bond to nourish our souls.
Scent of Jasmine (2011)
This memoir tells the story of the author's life in Israel, New Jersey, and San Francisco. In particular, her life in Israel as a young adult was marked by the tragedy of losing her fiance to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Angela Neff describes the memoir in a short description on the back cover: "The pain is so unbearable she has to leave Israel. But no matter where she lives, the love and loss of her life in Israel never leave her." The "scent of jasmine" is that particular fragrance of the Middle East, of hot summer nights, of streets in various Israeli cities, and symbolizes her journey and her loss. It is also a tale of finding herself as an adolescent, a young woman, a mother, a wife, a writer.
Other Writings
Adanna Literary Journal, "Women's Work," Number 10 (2020)
Sadly, handicapped remain invisible to many - sfchronicle.com (2017)
Making the jump - Momentum Magazine (2015)
NAIS - Cultivating Compassion in Our Classrooms (2006)
NAIS - Closed Doors Open Spaces (2006)