Anita Diamant

Anita Diamant (born June 27, 1951) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction focused on Jewish themes, including historical novels and guides to modern Jewish rituals.

Best known for her 1997 novel The Red Tent , which reimagines the biblical narrative of Dinah , daughter of Jacob , from a female perspective, Diamant achieved significant commercial success with the book, which sold millions of copies worldwide, was translated into over 25 languages, received the 2001 BookSense Best Fiction award, and was adapted into a 2014 Lifetime television miniseries . Her other novels include Good Harbor (2001), The Last Days of Dogtown (2005), Day After Night (2009), and The Boston Girl (2014), a New York Times bestseller. Diamant has also written influential non-fiction works such as The New Jewish Wedding (1985, revised editions), which provides guidance on egalitarian Jewish ceremonies, and other books on Jewish lifecycle events and family life.

A freelance journalist since moving to Boston in 1975, Diamant has contributed articles to outlets including The Boston Globe , The Wall Street Journal , and Reform Judaism . She founded the Jewish feminist publication B'not Esh ("Daughters of Fire") in 1986 and established Mayyim Hayyim, a progressive mikveh center in Newton, Massachusetts , serving as its founding president. Her writing often emphasizes women's roles in Jewish history and contemporary practice, drawing from her background growing up in Newark, New Jersey , and Denver, Colorado , after being born in Brooklyn, New York.

Anita Diamant was born on June 27, 1951, in Brooklyn , New York, to Maurice and Helen Diamant, both survivors of the Holocaust .

She spent her early childhood in Newark, New Jersey , where the family resided until 1963, when they relocated to Denver , Colorado .

Diamant attended the University of Colorado at Boulder before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis , where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in comparative literature in 1973. She subsequently pursued graduate studies at Binghamton University ( State University of New York at Binghamton), obtaining a Master of Arts degree in American literature in 1975. These degrees provided foundational training in literary analysis, which informed her later career in journalism and authorship. No further formal higher education is documented in available biographical records.

Anita Diamant began her journalism career in 1975 upon moving to Boston , initially working as a freelance reporter and contributor to local publications. Her early roles included editing Equal Times from 1977 to 1978 and serving as a columnist and staff writer for the Boston Phoenix starting in 1980, where she began with entry-level tasks like phone duties before advancing to story assignments. She also worked as a radio commentator for WBUR-FM from 1981 to 1982.

Diamant expanded her contributions to other outlets, including food writing and serving as a contributing editor for New England Monthly from 1984 to 1986, followed by a position as senior staff writer at Boston Magazine from 1986 to 1988, and columnist for the Boston Globe Magazine in 1988. Her work appeared in national magazines such as McCall's , Ms. , Parenting , Real Simple , and The Wall Street Journal , in addition to local ones like the Boston Globe and Boston Phoenix .

Her articles covered diverse topics, including profiles of prominent individuals, medical ethics , politics , popular culture , food, and first-person essays on subjects like pet ownership. This period of active journalism , primarily from 1975 to 1988, laid the foundation for her later nonfiction writing on Jewish life and personal experiences.

Diamant's nonfiction writing primarily consists of practical guides to contemporary Jewish life and rituals, drawing on her background as a journalist to blend traditional practices with modern adaptations for non-Orthodox audiences.