Photo credit: Jason Ransom

Ellen S. Jaffe was born in New York City, 1945, and is of Jewish-Russian descent. She graduated from Wellesley College, attended Columbia University in Theatre Studies, and received an M.A. from New York University in Education. Jaffe worked with the "Voice of the Children" writing group and also at WBAI-FM radio. She lived in England for 7 years, and completed a program in Child Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic. She moved to Ontario in 1979, where she has worked part-time as a therapist, and taught writing workshops in various schools, several times awarded "Artist in Education" grants from the Ontario Arts Council.

A finalist in the CBC Literary Competition (poetry) in 1996, Jaffe has given readings in Hamilton, London, Toronto, Woodstock, and Ingersoll, Ontario, and also in Vancouver; a few poems have been heard on CBC-radio. She tied for fourth place in the Short Plays for Schools contest sponsored by CAN-BAIA in 1996, and her play Jason's Quest, adapted from Margaret Laurence's novel of the same name, was produced in 2001 by Adventures in Children's Theatre. She has received awards for her books from Arts Hamilton and has also been awarded other literary prizes. Ellen is available to teach writing workshops and courses for children and adults. She is a member of The Writers Union of Canada, The League of Canadian Poets, and CANSCAIP, and has also been a volunteer on TV-Ontario's Regional Council. She has one son, Joe Bitz, born in 1980. Ellen enjoys travel, and has dual US-Canadian citizenship.

Ellen S. Jaffe's works copyright © to the author.