Elana Shira Segal
Writer inspired by narratives of people's lives
PUBLICATIONS
And it was Good
Chthonic Lit Winter 2026, Volume 1, Issue 2
"In the beginning, they’d gotten married. Five years ago. A lifetime. Optimistic, crazy, even foolish, some people had commented. The seas were swelling and hot, the ground was cracked like a dried, wrinkled hand, and the air was a poison gas, unsafe to inhale. But Mother was pregnant with twins. And twins were hopeful, especially when so many others were unable to conceive." In this dystopian tale, a young family is faced with few choices in the face of a burning planet, when just existing seems impossible.
Hanging on a Cliff
Transition Magazine (CMHA) Fall & Winter 2025
"When it happened, there'd been a dark hollow sky, the kind that brings more questions than answers." So begins Mae's reflection of her brother Joe's descent into psychosis when she was just thirteen years old. As Joe's life gets increasingly complicated, he does leave her one legacy that stays with her for years to come.
Photo designed by Freepik
Harachaman
"I spent my childhood at Beth Tikvah Synagogue, when families traveled in boat-sized station wagons without seatbelts, and polyester was a fabric of choice." Many years later, when life turned dark, I returned to my community and my shule and sought comfort from the familiar place of my youth.
Forward Go
"It is said that the death rate slightly increases every year around the Jewish New Year. Some speculate that it is part of the “Who shall live and who shall die” theme of the high holidays. Monty Finkelman understands this." After losing his wife and then his daughter, Monty finds himself alone and stuck in his grief on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. An unexpected knock at his door on the eve of Rosh Hashana might be the beginning of a change for Monty. Will he finally be ready to take a small step forward?
Photo designed by Freepik
Ole
It was only a silly, old sombrero that her father would wear every Halloween, but it gave her a window into her father's love for her when she otherwise might not have felt it.
BIO
Elana Shira Segal is a writer living in Toronto, Canada. She studied writing at The Humber School for Writers and The Sarah Selecky Writing School. Outside of writing, she does ceramics and works as a therapist.
Elana is passionate about words and finding just the right turn of phrase to convey a moment or a feeling. As a therapist, she has spent her life working with people to help them understand the narratives that inform their lives. Through writing, she creates and imagines the lives of her characters and shapes their narratives into meaningful, impactful stories.
