ANNABELLE GURWITCH

ANNABELLE GURWITCH is a New York Times Bestselling author, actress and activist whose most recent collection of essays "You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility" is a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022.

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Annabelle uses personal stories and humor to illuminate issues in the social zeitgeist including "harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most” (Tara Parker Pope, NYTimes). 

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She's written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Hadassah amongst other publications. Her five books include the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist "I See You Made an Effort." She's written and developed adaptations of her books for HBO, F/X, NBC, Lifetime networks. She's currently writing a film for the Hallmark Channel with Emmy winning tv producer Neena Beber based on "You're Leaving When?" for Andi MacDowell to star in.

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She was the longtime cohost of the fan favorite "Dinner & a Movie" on TBS and a regular commentator on NPR. She's performed on the Moth Mainstage, Joe's Pub, at Carolines on Broadway, The New York and Aspen Comedy Fests, and at arts centers around the country. Her acting credits include: "Seinfeld,""Murphy Brown,""Boston Legal," and "Dexter." Once in while she returns to acting playing Rabbi Gurwitch on "Better Things" on FX or a therapist for an FBI agent in Michael Bay’s "Ambulance."

Time Magazine featured Annabelle in their “Ten Ideas that are Changing the World” annual series. Her media appearances include: GMA, The Today Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, CBS Early Morning, Oprah, PBS Newshour, and many CNN, MSNBC programs. Annabelle is honored to be featured as a notable Southern Jewish author alongside Tony Kushner and Lillian Hellman in the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans. 

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Annabelle has been chronicling living with stage iv lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid. She's given patient advocate talks at scientific conferences around the globe including in Vienna, Rome, Singapore, and Brisbane. 

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She's guest lectured,taught essay writing and storytelling at The School of the New York Times, University of CA Redlands graduate writing program, Miami Dade Community College, Thurber House, George Washington U, Maine Media College, and The Erma Bombeck Writers Conference, University of Dayton, Ohio, and with The Campfire Project at the Palorinya Resettlement Camp in Moyo, Uganda. 

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