Michele Zackheim

Michele Zackheim (born 1941) is a contemporary American writer and visual artist, who changed career from visual art to author. Early in her career, she worked on murals, prints, and paintings, and was awarded two grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, for both public art and installations.

Zackheim has also worked as a fresco muralist, an installation artist, printmaker, and a painter. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Einstein's Daughter: The Search for Lieserl (Penguin Putnam, 1999), Broken Colors (Europa Editions, 2007),

Career

Before becoming a writer, Zakheim was active in the visual arts; her works included murals, printmaking and painting. Her work has been exhibited in several museums and galleries. During this time, she received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The work was exhibited in the opening exhibition at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and in other American cities, including Minnesota. According to Joyce Ann Mercer, this work "transcends the limitations of traditional religious art and creates a truly cross-religious learning space", and particularly commended its "creative height of perfectly integrating installation art, historical research and religious symbols".

After completing The Tent of Meeting, a Zakheim began to focus on loneliness in group work, inspired by cafe culture in Paris. From the perspective of a female cafe guest, The Cafe Series asks whether loneliness is a universal human predicament despite abundant communication networks in modern life. The collection contains 12 woodcut, self-portrait prints. Zackheim first took a selfie, projected the negative onto a board, carved it, cut it into five parts, and then painted it with ink and stencil. Each print is limited to 10 copies.

Literature

Violette's Embrace (1996) This novel is a fictional autobiography of Violette Leduc, a nearly forgotten French writer who is portrayed as a neurotic, possessive woman. Set during World War II, the protagonist is obsessed with Simone de Beauvoir, even spying on her in Paris cafes during the war and trying to establish a friendship. Through the dual-perspective narration (narrated by the biographer and Lily), Violette's inner life and the mother-daughter relationship are explored to show her self-recognition and vulnerability. Through this work, Zakheim weaves personal experiences with literary fiction.

Einstein's Daughter: The Search for Lieserl (1999)

This work of non-fiction combines historical research and personal narrative based on the extensive collection of Serbian and German letters and historical archives available. The book focuses on the mystery of the birth and whereabouts of Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric's daughter Lieserl, and speculates on Einstein's private and family life. Kirkus' book review said although this work takes artistic creation as its theme, there are obvious flaws in its narrative structure and writing style. There is a 28-year time jump in the narrative structure, and the dialogue is stiff and unnatural. The novel concludes its narrative loop with the reunion of Sophie and Luca, and Luca's son, an ending the book reviewer said is far-fetched. This book is described as being like an aesthetic discussion rather than a real exchange, giving people a sense of preaching.

Last Train to Paris (2014) The novel is set in Europe in 1937 and is based on the real-life kidnapping of the author's distant relatives. Through the perspective of female journalist Rose Manon, her personal fate is intertwined with the crisis of the times, showing her struggle in the sexist press, emotional entanglements with Leon, the kidnapping and murder of her Jewish cousin Stella, and the dilemma of hiding her Jewish identity. The juxtaposition of scenes in the port of Le Havre highlights the contrasting fates of American tourists and Jewish refugees.

Style and evaluation Zakheim's writing combines the characteristics of art and literature, and her creative method continues the observational method of visual art, so her narrative style has a strong visual element. According to Zakheim, writing historical works requires in-depth research and accuracy. She believes novels are unique and allow writers to delve deep into the minds of their characters. She also said her background in visual arts has affected her literary narrative.

Political and social views Michelle Zakheim has politically far-left views and has attended many political protests. She believes writers have a social responsibility, and as a member of PEN America's Free Writing Committee, she advocates the principles of "good, clear, and honest" writing, and campaigns for policy change for imprisoned writers. She advocates for greater intellectual engagement in social issues rather than relying on a few, and would send leaders of governments that imprison writers books such as Weeping Beloved Nation, The People of July, Prisoners Without Names: Cells Without Numbers, and The Feminine Mystique.

Zackheim's book Einstein's Daughter: The Search for Lieserl (1999) sparked controversy due to its speculative description of Albert Einstein's private life. The book focuses on the whereabouts of Lieserl, the daughter born to Einstein and his first wife Mileva Marić, but was severely criticized by physicist Jeremy Bernstein in the American Journal of Physics for relying on speculation about Lieserl's fate.