Pamela Paul: Writing is in the Family

Writing is the undercurrent that brings so many people to Girls Write Now – friends, colleagues, and even our dearest family members. When New York Times Book Review Editor Pamela Paul was honored at the 2015 Girls Write Now Awards, her mother and daughter joined us for the occasion.
Pamela’s speech as she accepted the Gamechanger Award revealed that her mother was once a “Peggy” like the fictional character of Peggy Olson in the TV series Mad Men. Her mother was an advertising copy writer in New York City. As a result, Pamela grew up knowing that “stories by girls and girls telling stories was important.”
The love of writing and stories has not stopped with Pamela. Beatrice, her young daughter, shares a similar affection. Pamela’s speech offered an amusing anecdote about Beatrice and her friends narrating out loud the activities of their sleepover just as she had done as a girl. Acknowledging that, while we may not want to hear recited every detail of a car trip or dinner party, Pamela was encouraged to see that young girls are storytellers who on some level know their voices are worthy of being heard.

Girls telling their stories is not a new phenomenon. Our stories have always been there and have always been worthy of reading. Pamela affirmed this.
We loved honoring Pamela and her family at the Awards. Pamela doesn’t just review books, she has authored some of her own! Be sure to check out By the Book and look out for her upcoming book My Life with BOB.