From New Orleans to Syrian Orthodox Brooklyn: Corie Adjmi's Journey

A second-grade report card called her a flirt. Her fifth-grade teachers praised her for not getting angry at boys. Corie Adjmi—author of Life and Other Shortcomings and the forthcoming novel The Marriage Box—joins Dara Levan to share her remarkable journey from reform Judaism in New Orleans to the Syrian Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. At 16, her parents moved the family back to their roots, and the rules changed overnight—from college aspirations to marriage expectations by 18. Corie met her husband on a blind date at 16 and married him a year and a half later—and 40 years later, they're still together. She opens up about the "marriage box," a real beachside gathering spot where teenage girls were paraded for dates, navigating different levels of religious observance within her marriage, and why writing fiction gave her the distance to tell her story. Her message? Start with yourself, stay curious, and hope love spreads. Keywords: Corie Adjmi, The Marriage Box, Life and Other Shortcomings, Syrian Jewish, Orthodox Judaism, Sephardic, women's voices, fiction, marriage, She Writes Press.


0:04 - Intro
1:57 - Teaching & after-publication conversations
4:32 - Writing about women & patriarchy
5:29 - New Orleans upbringing & report cards
7:32 - Moving to Brooklyn at 16
8:47 - Blind date & marriage at 18
10:17 - The premise of The Marriage Box
14:14 - Syrian Jewish community differences
16:35 - Feedback from readers
16:53 - Different observance levels in marriage
19:17 - The "marriage box" explained
21:46 - Othering within Jewish community
23:51 - Writing journey & 20-year process
30:09 - Publishing with She Writes Press
35:21 - Where to find Corie
35:36 - Outro


• https://www.instagram.com/dara.levan/
• Website: daralevan.com3
https://corieadjmi.com/


QUOTES:


"There's such joy in creating. I hope our world doesn't lose that, because we get so hung up on followers."
– Dara Levan

"At what price do you follow community or cultural expectations? And what does that mean to one's individuality?"
– Corie Adjmi