Berta Freistadt

Berta Freistadt is a Londoner ( born 1942) of mixed heritage, Mother, Irish-Scottish, Presbyterian with RC leanings. Father, Austro-Czech, a Jewish refugee. She has a Master’s degree in Screenwriting and is a teacher and a poet and writer, published on both sides of the Atlantic.

She originally worked in theatre – acting + back-stage; became a drama teacher in London’s east end where she wrote her first play.
Between 1981-1991 there have been 9 productions of her plays in London, N. Ireland, Canada, & Australia.

Her poetry is much anthologised and has won several awards. She has been commissioned several times to produce ‘special occasion’ poetry. Her own book Flood Warning (Five Leaves) was published in 2004.
At the moment she is working on a sequence of poems about & around the subject of Israel’s Wall, and a long poem about memory - working title - 'I Remember Joe Harriott'

Her fiction has been published in various anthologies and magazines.
Mass Dreams, a chapbook of visions and fairy tales, was the winner of the London Region of the Undiscovered Authors 2006 Competition. Berta is now a discovered author! Read extracts at discoveredauthors

As well as being a sometime/somehow writer, she teaches Memoir, Creative Writing, & Poetry (hands on doing it not just reading it !) at Birkbeck College of UL and other institutions.

She lives alone with Mr Charlie-Bluebell in a house that backs onto a cemetery and enjoys the quiet neighbours. Most of her family live in California & Missouri.