Meet Ronit Plank: Writer, Editor, and Teacher

Hi, thank you so much for visiting!

I’m a writer, editor, podcaster and teacher. My fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for 3 Pushcart Prizes and has also earned Best Microfiction and Best of the Net nominations. My work has appeared in places like The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Iowa Review, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, Writer’s Digest, and The New York Times, but for a complete list of links please visit my Published Work page.

My first book the memoir When She Comes Back, Finalist in the 2022 Housatonic Book Awards and the 2021 National Indie Excellence Awards, is about losing my mother to the guru at the center of the Netflix docuseries Wild Wild Country when I was a child and our eventual reconciliation. It’s a coming-of-age story about giving up one’s power, growing up in the 80’s in New York, struggling with poor body image, and how children survive when parents leave.

My second book is the short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, Winner of the 2020 Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Award for Short Stories.

Before I began writing and podcasting I was an actor and I still do some acting and voiceover work though my big passion is stories. No matter the genre, stories can bridge vastly different lived experiences and help connect those who might not otherwise have found each other. I got my MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Pacific University, am a creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review, a writing teacher, and I speak on memoir craft and why our stories matter.

I created my first podcast And Then Everything Changed to highlight the lives of people who have survived painful experiences and have made it their mission to help others find their way; whose stories inspire me to stay vulnerable and searching and strong. My second podcast, the limited series The Body Myth, is dedicated to interviews with women about body image, America’s dangerous diet culture, and how they are finding body peace.

My most recent project, Let’s Talk Memoir, is a podcast for memoir lovers, readers, and writers featuring conversations with memoirists about writing personal narratives, craft techniques and advice, and where they find inspiration. Some of my guests include Debra Gwartney, Maggie Smith, Camille Dungy, Phillip Lopate, Sonya Huber, Allison K. Williams, Beth Kephart and Jane Friedman. You can find all of my podcasts on your favorite podcast platform and from the menu above.

If you want to connect or would like more information about hiring me to freelance, edit, speak, or teach, please use the form to get in touch. Or you can email me at ronit (at) ronit plank (dot) com.

Thank you for your interest in my work!

– Ronit

(pronounced ro-neat)