Rachelle Bergstein at Savannah Book Festival: “Everyone is a fan first”

Written by Trinity Ray. Photos by Ally Miller-Henson.

On Feb. 8, 2025, at the Savannah Book Festival, lifestyle writer and author Rachelle Bergstein sat with me to discuss her most recent book and career. “The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood For All of Us” is a biography on the life and career of Judy Blume, an author of candid and raw female stories. 

Starting off with her festival experience, she loved meeting the other writers. “Everyone is a fan first and it’s very exciting to be here,” she says. That is also part of where her book started—being a fan of Judy Blume. Bergstein gets her ideas from life and people; she is inspired by personal interests, lifestyle journalism, social media conversations, her friends, the people around her and her own experiences as a woman. “What are people talking about?” she asks. If you were wondering what books Bergstein reads, she has some recommendations for you: “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore is fun. Women’s history and feminist texts are still relevant. And if you read “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan, think about how much progress we have or haven’t made. 

As a writer of articles, essays and books, there must be a process to choosing which way she presents each topic, right? For “The Genius of Judy,” Bergstein decided to write a hybrid-biography, discussing cultural history and Blume’s life through her novels. As she decides the length of her piece, or any written work, she sticks to the content she has. It’s organic: How much is there? Is it enough to carry a story? “Trust the people who give you feedback,” Bergstein says.

The writing process can be chaotic, and Bergstein understands this. She starts with reading and then researching. The turning point, when concept turns to writing, comes naturally for her. “I know it’s time to write when my brain is so full I can’t sleep or shut it off.”

Judy Blume’s stories are emotional, wispy, like “former boyfriend” talk. Matching this and knowing that some readers may not be familiar with Blume’s writing, Bergstein wanted to make “The Genius of Judy” more readable and easy, so the audience wouldn’t feel they were being taught a lesson at school. She tried to use Blume’s characters as her own in a way, to make it more story-like. I can attest—it worked. Writing about a person with years of influence, the age of audience this book can reach is wide. If the audience changes, does the writing or the voice then change? Bergstein says she always speaks the same way. She believes it is important to stay true to your ideas and then hope it is received well. Since college, she has been interested in investigating things women like that seem “frivolous or silly.” Why are those interests dismissed? Why are they not discussed? Who better to tell us than Rachelle Bergstein?