Justine Hope Blau was raised in a family that moved through 24 hotels and apartments around New York City by the time she was 11 -- at which point she became a ward of the court and lived in group homes for six years. Books were her main refuge, bringing her to other worlds and perspectives, far beyond her circumstances. She continues to be passionate about storytelling.
For the past five years Justine has been teaching a memoir writing workshop at CUNY Lehman College in the Bronx. In 2020, she edited an anthology of her students' compelling memoir vignettes, My Slipper Floated Away, which is available for free on the CUNY Academic Commons.
Justine has sold and optioned screenplays and written three books, including her memoir, Scattered (Hand Whistle Press, 2012). Her nonfiction has been published in magazines and websites including Rolling Stone, Oprah Magazine, CBSNews.com and The Huffington Post. Justine has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Paramount Pictures and the Wallace Foundation. She holds an MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University's School of the Arts, has two grown kids (who can also tell a good story) and is obsessed with saving our democracy.