Narratively is an award-winning destination for long-form narrative non-fiction. I wrote a piece tracking the past and present of Gottscheer Hall, a bar and social club in Ridgewood, Queens. Founded by immigrants from Gottschee, a bygone German settlement within what’s now Slovenia, Gottscheer Hall was central to the lives of the many refugees that arrived after World War II, and remains a lively haunt for their descendants and other local denizens.
I got to know a community of intriguing characters and discovered long-standing traditions, a complex history, and a lot of pride. Upon publication, I received a request from a Gottscheer organization to print and distribute the article to Gottscheers around the world.
The full article is below and here.
