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Mark Levenson
Mark Levenson is an award-winning dramatist, screenwriter, and short-story writer, as well as a longtime journalist. His Jewish-themed fantasy writing has won honors from The Natio...view moreMark Levenson is an award-winning dramatist, screenwriter, and short-story writer, as well as a longtime journalist. His Jewish-themed fantasy writing has won honors from The National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the American Jewish University, as well as a Union Internationale de la Marionnette-USA Citation of Excellence, an award founded by Jim Henson. Levenson's novel, The Hidden Saint, is the culmination of his more than 20 years of engagement with Jewish folklore. Levenson wrote The Return of the Golem and The Wise Men of Chelm for the stage, and adapted S. Ansky's The Dybbuk for actors and puppets. His Jewish-themed short fiction credits include Mystery Weekly Magazine, Kindle Kzine, and Ami Magazine. He also blogs about Jewish fantasy for The Times of Israel. Levenson began his career as a reporter for The Miami Herald and Dun's Review. He has written for New York Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Forward, The Jewish Week, the Associated Press, Puppetry International, Stevens Magic, The American Kennel Club Gazette, The Oregonian, and others. He heads the marketing and PR firm The Levenson Company, whose clients have included Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and Cigna. Levenson served as director of press relations for The Wharton School at Penn, and director of public relations for the Oregon Art Institute. He also served on the boards of the Jim Henson Foundation and the American Jewish Committee. Perhaps Levenson's interests in fantasy and folklore are in his blood; his paternal grandmother was a magician, "Lightfingers Ida," whose tutelage sparked his lifelong interest in magic. His great-great-uncle (on his mother's side) was a strongman in a Russian circus who could hold back galloping horses and survive sledgehammer blows by peasants who smashed rocks on his chest, except for the last time. Although Levenson's physique gives no hint of this lineage, it was a circus sideshow that sparked another lifelong interest, that of puppetry. Levenson writes for and about puppet theatre, was guest curator and catalog author for the exhibition "Winners' Circle" at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and a contributor to the World Encyclopedia of Puppetry. He was the featured Punch & Judy performer at the Philadelphia festival marking the 250th anniversary of the first performance of that classic puppet play in America. Levenson was graduated from Cornell University. He and his family live in Westchester County, New York.view less