Created June 01, 2023 by Tzivia MacLeod
Meet the SCBWI Israel Team
If you have any questions for us, or want to share your good news, get in touch with us at israel@scbwi.org. Please note that our all team members are volunteers. We do our best to respond to inquiries as soon as possible. If you don’t hear back from us, please feel free to reach out again.
Co-Regional Advisor
Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod is a journalist, blogger, translator, marketing copywriter, and on her precious spare time… she writes kids’ books. Many have Jewish themes, but others are for a general audience. Her picture books include Yossi and the Monkeys (Kar-Ben/Lerner, 2017), Fast Asleep in a Little Village in Israel (Apples & Honey, 2018), and Clarence’s Topsy-Turvy Shabbat (Kar-Ben/Lerner, 2020). Tzivia’s writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Mother-Daughter Soul, along with numerous newspapers, magazines, and literary journals.
Visit Tzivia’s website
Co-Regional Advisor
Anna Borenstein is a science writer in English and Hebrew and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Hebrew University, both with honors. Working for over a decade, including at the Weizmann Institute of Science, her writing has appeared in Globes, National Geographic (Hebrew version), and a range of other publications. Favorite projects have included covering the race by Nobel laureate Prof. Ada Yonath to understand how the cell’s ribosome produces proteins and involvement with a nationwide organization working to transition Israel to renewable energies. Having recently returned to Israel after years abroad, she is now happy to count jackals, wild pigs, and porcupines as some of her neighbors.
Visit Anna’s website
Illustrator Coordinator
Shirley Waisman is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design with a BA in visual communication. She was awarded a research scholarship that allowed her to spend two years in Japan researching children’s book illustration.
Over the years, Shirley has illustrated more than 50 children’s books. Today, she works as an illustrator and graphic designer while also working on her Master’s degree in art and education.
Visit Shirley’s website
Scbwi Israel Volunteers:
Membership Coordinator
Meirav Shilo is a freelance illustrator who creates handmade illustrations. She lives in Shilo (just like her family name!) with her husband and seven children and finds inspiration in the beautiful landscape around her. In her free time, between illustrating and raising her kids, she loves to read, learn new things, and visit museums. Most of all, she loves to breathe in the natural air and be grateful for everything that life has to offer. As membership coordinator, Meirav welcomes any new member who joins our Israeli chapter. Meirav also collects the material for our Members’ Good News newsletter, so if you have any kid-lit good news, please send them her way!
Visit Meirav’s website
Email Meirav at: eurimesh@gmail.com
Critique Group Coordinator
Pamela Moritz is the author of the award-winning If I Lived with Noah (Apples & Honey Press) and The Great Passover Escape (Kar-Ben). If you ask Pam, it’s thanks to her SCBWI critique group. Over the years, Pam has realized a simple truth: critiques are essential for strengthening your writing. They’re a must. Pam is the coordinator for three critique groups in her SCBWI Israel chapter – two for picture books and one for middle grade. Send her an email at theredpencil@moritz.us if you’re interested.
Regional Advisor Emeritus
Miri Leshem-Pelly is an author and illustrator. She has had 15 children’s books published as an author/illustrator, and she’s illustrated 16 children books for other writers. Miri does more than 100 school visits per year.
Miri’s book Scribble & Author was published in the United States in 2017, and has been translated into 5 languages. Penny and the Plain Piece of Paper was published in August 2020 by Philomel/Penguin Random House. She is represented by Olswanger Literary agency.
Visit Miri’s website