Westside Author Talk with Helene Simkin Jara

True Doll Stories We Remember is a collection of interviews with 90 people about their childhood experiences with dolls.

It includes stories from both women and men. Several countries are also represented including Mexico, Switzerland, Korea and Ireland. Many of the tale prove to be universal.

Helene Simkin Jara is an actor, director, author and educator who lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. Her work has been published in The Porter Gulch Review, La Revista, Mindprints, Phren-Z, Serving House Journal, Red Wheelbarrow and Nerve Cowboy. In 2003, she received the “best prose” award from Porter Gulch for her short story “Josefina” and again in 2009 for her short play “FUBMC.” In November of 2006, Helene’s play “The Tongue” was part of a festival at the African American Shakespeare Company in San Francisco. In 2007, her poem “The Difference” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has self-published Because I Had To, a collection of short stories, poems, plays and monologues. It was an Amazon Kindle bestseller in July, 2014. Her book True Doll Stories We Remember is non-fiction. In addition to Because I Had To, she has published three more books of short stories: Turn Left at the Gorilla and Go Down the Hall, and Me! Me! Me! Life on the Stand is her autobiography which is also available as an audiobook.

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