Writer of the Week – Janine Kovac Video Interview

Spinning: Choreography for Coming Home, by Janine Kovac

When Janine Kovac gives birth to micro preemie twins nearly four months before they are due, she channels the grace and strength that carried her through a successful ballet career. The human body has amazing healing powers if you just know how to listen to it. But old habits bring up old haunts and bitter memories—the futile quest for perfection and a career-ending injury. In the sterile, fluorescent world of the NICU, ballet breeds hope as the twins make a miraculous recovery. Can it also bring resolution to the dancer so many years after the abrupt and painful end to the career she loved so much?

Bio: Janine Kovac, a former professional ballet dancer and software engineer, is the co-founder of Moxie Road Productions, a consulting firm that helps women bring their ideas into the world. She is the author of Brain Changer: A Mother’s Guide to Cognitive Science and a contributing editor of the anthology Mamas Write: 29 Tales of Truth, Wit, and Grit. In 2016 Janine was awarded the Elizabeth George Foundation Fellowship from Hedgebrook in addition to the gift of residency. She lives in Oakland, California, with her family.

Reviews:

“Janine Kovac’s memoir, written with a fresh and engaging voice, will grab you by the heart and won’t let go until the very end. What a ride! Brava!”
—Ellen Sussman, New York Times bestselling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons, and On a Night Like This

“A deft and moving exploration of fear, strength and the ways in which our past lives are always catching up with our present.”
—Anna Solomon, author of Leaving Lucy Pear and co-editor of Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers

“A beautiful, honest book about the triumphs and dangers of dancing, the deep joy and sadness of becoming a mother to twins born far too soon.”
—Nayomi Munaweera, author of Island of A Thousand Mirrors (winner of the Commonwealth Regional Prize for Asia) and What Lies Between Us

“I loved Spinning from the first page . . . [It] is both a testament to the miracle of the human body and to the ways that deep listening allows us to heal and pull meaning from our lives.”
—Kate Hopper, author of Ready for Air: A Journey Through Premature Motherhood and Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers

“A tremendous book: a thrilling find for any reader and a tour-de-force for the author.”
—Publisher’s Weekly

Visit Janine’s personal website JanineKovac.com or her writer support website Moxie Road