Jewish Literary Links
- Over on the Writer’s Digest site, novelist Michelle Cameron explains “why she’s driven to write Jewish historical fiction and why it’s not about the Holocaust.”
- “The Algemeiner newspaper is seeking a Senior Campus Correspondent to report on antisemitism and anti-Israel activity at university campuses and schools around the world, as well as cover stories about Jewish student life….Our office is located in New York, NY. Candidates who prefer to work remotely are also welcome to apply.”
- From the National Library of Israel/Chen Malul: an article “in memory of 100 years of Judeo-Arabic literature.”
- Can’t resist sharing this discovery from one of my Facebook groups: “Invite some colorful new guests to your sukkah, home, synagogue, or classroom this year. This banner features original illustrations of seven lesser-known Jewish women from history. These Women of the Book were writers, scribes, journalists, publishers, and poets, and all brought their own unique voices to their craft.” (Price: $50.)
- And icymi: some exciting news about a forthcoming Jewish poetry anthology.
Shabbat shalom.
Erika,
Thanks for the link to Michelle Cameron’s piece. There are many stories of the Jewish experience that remain to be told. Still, I fervently believe in the value of writing about the Holocaust. There are still so many stories that haven’t been told, and I think it’s our obligation to write them. This is one of the reasons I’m pursuing my PhD in Holocaust & Genocide Studies.
There are those who maintain, for instance, that Holocaust narratives dominate Jewish children’s lit. They don’t. They are a mere fraction (e.g., in 2015, they represented 15% of Jewish kidlit and less than one percent, I think, of all children’s books published that year). However, many of them win awards and perhaps that gives them prominence.
Barbara
I hear you, Barbara. As you know, I have myself written Holocaust-related fiction. For me (unlike Michelle, evidently), that actually helped me process my family’s experiences and what I absorbed about them, as well as memorialize some of those who were lost. Still, I think that Michelle’s piece is worth sharing—including for the reason that it’s a Jewishly-focused piece appearing on a widely-viewed mainstream site. For a change!
I wrote two screenpalys, movies about the Holocaust in Poland. Action. But no producers! It is very sad.
That’s really too bad.
I hope you keep trying.
Yes, Michelle’s piece is totally worth sharing. And like you, I write about the Holocaust to process what happened to my own family. One of my MFA advisors always said, “Write what haunts you.” The Holocaust, and my own family’s experience of it, haunts me.
I feel the same way you do, Barbara. I spent years working on my novel, Circumference of Silence, which will be published next July, because as the second generation, it lives with me always. And finding the right way to tell the stories took a lot of trial and error!