About Gail
I grew up listening to my family tell stories around the dining room table, and I have loved stories ever since. Today, I am a writer, storyteller, and educator. I tell re-envisioned folktales to live audiences and write contemporary short stories and novel-length works about creative people.
I believe that everyday can be a creative adventure. Even the smallest things can inspire art, and that’s what I write about in my newsletter, Finding Creativity in the Everyday. Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack here…!
As a founding member of a storytelling collective, I work with other women to tell stories from the female perspective. On September 9, 2025, Monkfish Press published our anthology, The Rooster Princess and Other Tales. My writing has also appeared in Jewish Fiction.net, the New Mitzvah Stories for the Whole Family anthology, Wanderlust Journal, and The Fruit of Yitzhak’s Tree anthology.
I’m devoted to helping other writers and artists. Since 2015, I have served on the Board of Directors of Willamette Writers, and I led the organization as its president for five years.
My husband and I live in Portland where our date nights are filled with trying new restaurants and cocktail bars or listening to live jazz or just hanging out with our dog, Leeta.
The Rooster Princess And Other Tales
Women take center stage in the Rooster Princess and Other Tales: Jewish Stories Re-populated with Spunky Heroines, Wise Women, Brave Crones, and Powerful Prophetesses. This groundbreaking anthology by my group, the Jewish Women’s Storytelling Collective, puts a modern, feminist spin on Jewish folklore by substituting leading male characters with females ones in re-imagined traditional tales, original stories, and personal stories. Publishers Weekly says, “Creative, witty, and sly, these stories do valuable work in energizing an ancient storytelling tradition.”
Bio
Gail Pasternack is a writer and storyteller. She tells re-envisioned folktales and writes contemporary stories. Gail was one of the editors and contributors of the anthology The Rooster Princess and Other Tales, a feminist collection of folktales. Her writing has also appeared in anthologies and journals. Since 2015, Gail has served on the Board of Directors of Willamette Writers, and she led the organization as its president for five years. Gail holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a masters from Columbia University. A native New Yorker, she now lives with her husband and her dog, Leeta, in Portland, Oregon where she enjoys drinking cocktails, listening to live jazz, and dancing Argentine tango.
