Posts Tagged‘Holocaust’

Home » Holocaust » Page 24

Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Upon the passing of Coffee House Press founder Allan Kornblum, Allan Appel reflects on Kornblum “and the Jewish Question.”
  • Another worthy essay from Nina Badzin, this time on “an unexpected improvement” to her marriage.
  • I’ve just finished reading Assaf Gavron’s The Hilltop (trans. Steven Cohen). Dan Friedman’s review sums up the novel nicely.
  • And I’ve just purchased this book, which, as you’ll see will be the focus of a forthcoming event at Hebrew Union College in NYC.
  • Tablet magazine is hiring two paid, part-time editorial interns.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Lit Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • The Jewish Week serves up its fall literary special section, with an emphasis on “the next wave of Russian-Jewish literature.”
  • “In the Schwarzwald,” a new poem by Lawrence Schimel.
  • From Tablet magazine: “Miriam Michelson, American Jewish Feminist Literary Star of the Western Frontier.”
  • “One author, raised in liberal Judaism’s bosom, has been quietly redefining what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century.” Batya Ungar-Sargon profiles Adam Kirsch for The Forward.
  • And the Fig Tree Books blog presents another roundup of links relating to American Jewish Experience in “AJE Around the Web.”

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Not for the first time, I’m pointing you to an extraordinary piece by Kevin Haworth. This time: “On Never Having Read Anne Frank”.
  • From Mosaic magazine: the inimitable Ruth Wisse writes about Nora Gold’s Fields of Exile: “I am grateful for a work of fiction that honestly animates what is all too actual and true.”
  • New award for fiction on Jewish themes: the Amy Levy Prize.
  • On the Well Versed blog: the latest about Granta Israel.
  • And another milestone for Fig Tree Books!

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • A bit about the latest Nobel Prize winner for literature: Patrick Modiano.
  • And a bit about a project I’m involved with over at Fig Tree Books (I have to tell you–the response has been overwhelming!)
  • Adam Kirsch on new “Holocaust novels” by Howard Jacobson and Martin Amis.
  • A hearty Mazal Tov to the latest winners of the Moment Magazine/Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest.
  • And another award-winning writer–a young one–gives “a shout-out to Betty Friedan.”

    • Shabbat shalom.

    On “Holocaust Fiction”

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    cover19_240x3281ruled46In the new (fall) issue of the Jewish Review of Books, I respond to a piece published in the summer issue.

    My response begins:

    “As an avid reader of novels and short stories, and as the author of a story collection myself, I am always pleased to see fiction discussed within the JRB’s pages. But in the case of Amy Newman Smith’s “Killer Backdrop” (Summer 2014), my initial pleasure was tempered by an increasing sense of discomfort.

    In part, the trouble stemmed from my difficulty understanding the exact focus of Ms. Smith’s opprobrium. Does she object to all “new works of Holocaust fiction” because they are not nonfiction? Fair enough. Some people don’t ascribe any value to Holocaust-related fiction; I am not among them. But are there any examples of Holocaust-related fiction that might meet with Ms. Smith’s approval? Novels by the late ArnoŠt Lustig? Cynthia Ozick’s now-classic “The Shawl”?”

    You can find the rest of my response–plus the original article and Amy Newman Smith’s response-to-my-response–on the JRB website.