On this week’s episode of the Touro Law Review Podcast, we are joined by published author and “recovering” attorney, Reyna Marder Gentin. Gentin is the author of three novels, all written after she practiced law for more than twenty years. As Gentin discusses with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, she worked in the New York Office of a large international law firm, as a law clerk for a federal judge, and as a public defender. As a criminal defense lawyer, she worked primarily as an appellate lawyer.
Though Gentin didn’t realize it at the time, her experience writing briefs helped her become a novelist. As Gentin explains, being an effective appellate advocate requires the lawyer to be a good storyteller. When she decided to stop practicing law, Gentin wasn’t sure what would come next. After taking a class on memoir writing with a friend, Gentin began writing her first novel, Unreasonable Doubts, which is about a public defender on the cusp of making some important decisions. Gentin discusses the challenges and rewards of writing this novel and two others during the podcast. And, Gentin says, she’s now working on her fourth novel.
Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.
Our guest today is Reyna Marder Gentin .
Reyna Marder Gentin grew up in Great Neck, New York. She attended college and law school at Yale University. Upon her graduation from law school, Reyna Marder Gentin worked as an appellate lawyer and a public defender before she turned to writing full-time. Reyna Marder Gentin studied writing at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, and her work has been widely published online and in print. Her debut novel, Unreasonable Doubts, was named a finalist for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Start Award in 2019. Her second novel, My Name Is Layla, for readers 8 to 12 years old, came out in January of 2021 and won the 2021 gold medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Awards in pre-teen fiction. Reyna’s latest novel, Both Are True, was published in 2021 and is the story of a newly appointed Manhattan family court judge.
To learn more, please visit reynamardergentin.com.
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