Author • Educator • Presenter
J anet has decades of published writing experience both as a book author and a freelance journalist. She is the author of six published works. For twenty nine years (1986-2014) she taught in the English department at Milton Academy in Massachusetts. She leads workshops and presents programs internationally on the psychology of personality using the E-model. An anti-apartheid activist, she is an expert on South Africa and South African politics. The founder and leader of several successful non-profit organizations, in South Africa and the United States, Janet remains a committed activist for human rights.
South African born, American author, educator, presenter, nonprofit entrepreneur. Since adolescence Janet published articles in national newspapers in South Africa. She is a lifetime freelance journalist. In the USA she is the author of six traditionally published and well-reviewed books, including Inside Apartheid and Liv’s Secrets. She is currently working on her latest fiction, The Awakening of Diya Sharma. Deeply involved in South African politics, Janet traveled extensively internationally, and as a public representative on the Johannesburg City Council interacted with national and international journalists and embassy personnel from many countries. She taught philosophy and literature for 30 years at Milton Academy, Massachusetts. She is a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books. Currently resides in south west Florida, USA.
Commitment to human rights
Janet has a life long commitment to human rights. She is a teacher—in the broadest sense of the word—in all she undertakes. She enjoyed her time in the classroom with her students, and continues her work supporting activist causes. The third part of her life’s passion is writing.
Books by Janet Levine
Nominated for the 2023 National Book Award
AUDIOBOOK NOW AVAILABLE ON
AMAZON & OTHER PLATFORMS
Stream Janet Levine’s interview with Logan Crawford
on the Global Spotlight Network:
READING MATTERS: HOW LITERATURE INFLUENCES LIFE.
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and booksellers nation wide.
Endorsements
General Readers
“Great writing in great stories can draw the reader into another’s walk, another’s way. It’s the beginning of human understanding and moral development, qualities sorely needed in today’s world. Levine’s book is an educator’s compelling testimony to that enduring truth.”
—Deval L. Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts 2007-2015; (BA, Harvard, English & American Literature Major)
“As the natural world and our political structures test the limits of our beliefs and the boundaries of reality, Levine’s work shines a light on the way in which those delineations are learned but may be changed. Levine addresses the full essence of a person, in both matters of the heart and matters of the mind.”
—Tze Chun, Founder and CEO of Uprise Art
Educators
“As a systems convener of learning communities for over 40 years, I find Levine’s book engages inspiring readings that offer effective catalysts for change in mind structure. This book reflects her life’s work as an educator.”
—Milton D. Cox, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, The Journal on Excellence in College Teaching
“In this book Janet Levine explores how texts from a variety of literary traditions can expand our understanding of what it means to be human. The book invites all readers, regardless of age or profession, to open our minds to the possibility of seeing ourselves and our world anew. Levine straddles multiple cultures and from her unique perspective makes the familiar new and the new familiar.”
—Margery Sokoloff, Associate Director, Brandeis University Teacher Leadership Program
Book Groups
“What a fascinating book! I so agree with the title Reading Matters. As a group analyst I am immediately inspired to invite a group together to read this book, chapter by chapter, and discuss the deep themes so wisely chosen and presented by Janet Levine”
—Leila Valtonen, Training Psychotherapist in Helsinki University program of Group Analytic Psychotherapy.
“An inspiring demonstration of how great literature can change our minds, and our lives.”
—Tom Harper, prize-winning author of The Orpheus Descent and many other books
“An intriguing and thorough exploration of the relationship between literature and its impact on our culture and how we see the world around us.”
—Helaina Hovitz, author of After 9/11
Librarians
“Janet Levine’s thoughtful and creative approach to the act of reading is greatly important. She has selected a distinguished and diverse set of readings to underscore what we often take for granted–that reading matters. We readers bring to the works a unique set of experiences and beliefs. The texts then help us to grow and evolve. For a reader who fought censorship most of her life, this book showed me how the freedom to read is an essential link to personal growth and our ability to be pro-active and make a better world.”
—Barbara M. Jones, Ph.D. Retired, Director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association; Executive Director, Freedom to Read Foundation
“The stunning endorsements for Janet Levine’s Reading Matters say it all. It is a book by a renowned author that belongs in every library and on every shelf of people who know and value the importance of great literature.”
Know Your Parenting Personality
Parenting Book
How To Use the Enneagram To Become The Best Parent You Can Be. Filled with practical advice taken from interviews with scores of parents and uses the e-model as a tool to improve family dynamics.
The Enneagram Intelligences: Understanding Personality for Effective Teaching and Learning
Educational Book
This book has helped thousands of educators to understand their motivations for how they teach and how their students learn. In 2000 it was nominated for the 2001 Grawemeyer Education Award. Translated into several languages it is now regarded as a “classic” work in Enneagram studies. Both these books are available in e-book formats
Inside Apartheid
Political Memoir
Bears witness to the horrors of living within the apartheid system from the perspective of a white activist. Levine, a crusading freelance journalist, was an elected public official, and she held office in many anti-apartheid organizations. She shares her love for the country as she fights against the tyranny of racism that tears at the lives of all South Africans. Inside Apartheid was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, Kirkus Review, et al.
Kirkus review: “A grim account by a white liberal South African expatriate of life “”in the belly of the beast”” that is apartheid. . . A compelling, chastening work.”
Leela’s Gift
Fiction
A novel, “Leela’s Gift” (2009) is available at www.amazon.com and other online and brick bookstores.
Updates & Writer’s Blog
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Matrix by Lauren Groff is a welcome assault on readers’ sensibilities–in this case ears and eyes, to say nothing of minds. In uniquely syntaxed prose, lucid and almost cinematographic in the unfolding of her tale, Groff creates a 12th century world that relies on...
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
In Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, this highly regarded author delivers another slamdunk novel. Hamnet is her first venture into historical fiction. She creates the ethos of rural, Elizabethan England within the story of grief-stricken domesticity, as an unpretentious...
Janet's work with the Enneagram:
What is Janet currently writing?
Non-fiction: READING MATTERS: How Literature Influences Life
By examining prominent texts, throughout history and from all parts of the world, readers will become more aware of how worldviews are created, developed, dissolved, and sometimes decimated…including their own.
(Work in Progress) Olivia's Ghosts
Speaking Engagement Bookings
Janet Levine is a popular speaker in the areas of her expertise, among them, how reading great literature influences life, the Enneagram personality model, and the politics of past and present day South Africa that shape that country’s future. She also presents talks on writing and the writing process while sharing her experiences. In her presentations she uses her books, videos and additional material where necessary. Janet has presented these materials internationally at conferences and workshops across North America and beyond. She can shape her presentation to fit your needs. For an extensive listing of past speaking references CLICK HERE.
From Inspirational Faculty video, Milton Academy, 2018
Copyright © Janet Levine, All Rights Reserved, 2022
