Anne Abel
Anne Abel’s story about unwittingly rescuing an aggressive dog, Milo, won a Moth StorySLAM in New York City. She has won two additional Moth StorySLAMs in Chicago. Her credentials include an MFA from The New School for Social Research, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BS in chemical engineering from Tufts University. She has freelanced for Lilith; Philadelphia Daily News; The Jewish Exponent; Philadelphia Weekly, Main Line Life and Main Line Today, and formerly wrote a weekly column, “The Homefront,” for Main Line Welcomat. She also taught English and creative writing at the Community College of Philadelphia. Anne lives in New York City with her husband, Andy, and their three rescue dogs, Ryan, Megan, and Chase. She grew up outside Boston, MA. In January, 2016 Anne and Andy, moved from suburban Philadelphia with their three dogs to Chicago, where Andy was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. Anne had no idea what she was going to do in this city where the daytime high was nine degrees. When she met her new dog walker she asked, “What do you do when you aren’t walking dogs?” “I host a storytelling open mic in the back of a bar. You should come sometime and tell a story.” Anne went to the storytelling open mic just to listen. Unexpectedly, she found herself telling a story. For the next two years Anne became part of the storytelling circuit of Chicago, including The Moth. She won two Moth StorySLAMs in Chicago. Then she and her husband moved to New York City where she won a Moth StorySLAM for telling the story about Milo.
Articles:
Self-Care in Grief: Woman in a Blue Padded Folding Chair
Woman In A Blue Padded Folding Chair Stop. Breathe. Be. Inhale. Exhale. Wait. I’m sitting in a blue padded folding chair in the basement of a church trying to learn how to meditate. Stop. Breathe. Be. Inhale. Exhale… This just isn’t working for me. It’s the second week of a ten-week course I didn’t want to take in the first place. But, today I especially don’t want to be here. When I woke up in the morning the first thing I thought was, “How many minutes ‘til one o’clock?” I showered and dressed and looked at the clock. I went […]
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The Magic of a Child’s Grief
Son’s Grief Opens a Door I got a belated birthday card from my mother for my 41st birthday. “To Our Wonderful Daughter,” was scripted on the front, in gold, above a bouquet of pastel flowers. Inside, on the right page, in the same Hallmark font: “Another year of the one-and-only you.” On the left, was my mother’s black-scripted message: “Anne, I was only 22 when you were born. I didn’t want to have you, I had other things I wanted to do. But, here you are. Love, Mom”. My mother had been waging guerilla warfare on me my whole life. […]
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Childhood Pet’s Violent Death Still Haunts
Childhood Pet was a Gift My father worked in a lab at MIT next door to an animal experimentation lab. The summer I was seven, he surprised us with a beagle puppy that the lab didn’t need anymore. He was so cute and cuddly. “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” was a song I heard all the time on the radio at our neighbors’ house. I immediately named the puppy Teenie. I loved this little dog. He was perfect. I would nestle beside him on the living room rug, rubbing his warm belly and pat- ting his soft […]
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