Law and fiction can go hand in hand, a speaker said on Monday.
About 30 Boston University students, faculty and Hillel House members listened to School of Law alumna Joan Leegant discuss her transition from law to fiction and her new novel, entitled "Wherever You Go," in the LAW Barrister's Hall.
Hillel House, the Jewish Law Student's Association, the Hillel Graduate Student Society and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies organized the event to give students the opportunity to gain career advice and increase their awareness of the current Israeli conflict, said Katelynn Plotnick, one of the event coordinators.
Leegant said her career transformation from a lawyer to a fiction writer began when she was drawn to a writing club advertisement at her local pool.
She said that while the two fields may seem distinctly different, law and fiction are intrinsically related.
"Lawyers like words," she said. "Lawyering involves a great deal of narrative, stories and human drama."
Following a brief discussion of her early writing career and debut novel, Leegant explained how "Where You Go" developed.
She said she was "smitten" with Israel after her first visit in 1977 and became motivated to write a novel about the region while she was there visiting her son.
"I knew two things," she said. "I knew I wanted to write about Israel and I wanted to write about Americans in Israel."
Leegant read an excerpt from the book and briefly narrated the story to the crowd.
The novel follows Yona and Dina, two American sisters who travel to Israel and experience how the Arab-Israeli conflict is affecting Israel.
Leegant said she originally imagined the story in terms of its characters without the political implications of their setting, but eventually felt unable to dissociate the two.
"It is virtually impossible to write a novel about Israel and the Middle East without it becoming political," she said. "The situation in regards to settlements is very controversial and it is hard to live there and not feel that it is very present in your life."
After her lecture, Leegant opened the floor to questions and comments on her novel and her career transition.
One attendee asked her how she managed to write about the Arab-Israeli conflict without taking sides.
Leegant said her background as a lawyer helped her remain objective.
"I tend to see all sides and have compassion for all sides," she said. "It is an author's duty to portray the gray."
Another attendee asked her whether her approach to Arab-Israeli politics in her novel was influenced by her stance as an American.
Leegant responded by admitting that this was "one of her concerns" when writing the novel and was also the reason that she decided to write from an American perspective instead of an Israeli one.
Leegant concluded the event with a book signing and distributed discount-priced copies of her novel.
Plotnick said she was pleased with the event's success. She said she hoped students would learn from Leegant's positive example and do what their hearts say because "life is always changing."
Attendees said they enjoyed Leegant's advice.
"It was interesting to hear the perspective of the author," said LAW student Yuliya Shilovitsky. "It was great to be able to ask questions and get answers."
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