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Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

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

  • From the The Jewish Week: “Elie Wiesel’s ‘Open House'”.
  • The Canadian Jewish News catches up with JewishFiction.Net and its editor, Nora Gold, who has a new novel coming next year (I can’t wait to read it!).
  • Even if I hadn’t had the privilege of meeting YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent this week, his important reflections on “the last books” for Jewish Ideas Daily would have made this list.
  • A few words about “Germany After 1945: A Society Confronts Anti-Semitism, Racism and Neo-Nazism,” a traveling exhibition that is making its U.S. debut in NYC.
  • And my review of “Holocaust Literature: A History and Guide,” by David Roskies and Naomi Diamant, in The Forward.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards Update

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I’ve been wondering what was happening with the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience. I routinely enter (and lose) this competition, and it seems to have a spring deadline. I wasn’t finding any updates online for this year’s contest, and then, lo and behold, an email message arrived this morning.

    The message was from Michal Mahgerefteh, publisher/editor of Poetica Magazine, Contemporary Jewish Writing and Art, and it informed me that the 2013 competition is being administered by the magazine.

    The contest is open to all writers, irrespective of ethnicity or religious affiliation. Poems should address “Jewish Experience.” There’s no entry fee, and the deadline for 2013 is November 15. “Total prize money of $3000 will be distributed between 1-3 places and honorable mentions.”

    You can find full guidelines here.

    Thanks to Ms. Mahgerefteh for contacting me.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: How Harvard Failures Made Me Thick-Skinned, Super-Stubborn, and Ready for a Writing Life

    by Erika Dreifus on
    14

    (As I explained at the beginning of the May issue of The Practicing Writer, where a version of this essay also appears, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my years in the Boston area. The Massachusetts phase of my life began when I arrived in Cambridge as a Harvard freshman more than 25 years ago. Little did I realize then how much – and how unexpectedly – Harvard would help me become a practicing writer. This essay describes some of those hard-won understandings. Thanks for reading.)
    Baccalaureate Service 2010
    My undergraduate college – Harvard – was a perfect place to prepare for a writing life. But not for the reasons you think.

    Not for the dizzying array of creative-writing classes (the college offered few; you had to submit a polished writing sample to compete for a spot in even introductory workshops). Not for benefits conferred by an on-campus MFA program (there wasn’t one). Not even for the vaunted connections (I was a first-generation Ivy Leaguer and only minimally “cooler” at Harvard than I’d been in high school). But even before I started seeing my classmates’ names (and seemingly just as quickly, those of younger alums) on book covers and within the pages of THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, I endured numerous experiences that could have encouraged me to give up. (more…)

    Friday Finds for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • Sometimes, the truth hurts. And there’s pain in this Grub Daily post, “If You Write What You Love, Will the Money Follow?”.
  • On Lisa Romeo’s blog: a guest post with tips on giving good readings.
  • Litro magazine has launched a new flash-fiction column featuring the expertise of Tania Hershman.
  • Short Story Month is nearly upon us. Do you have plans to celebrate? I’ve been remiss: I’d hoped to organize a virtual “panel” on Goodreads featuring some short-story authors of my acquaintance, but I’ve fallen woefully behind. I think that I’ll at least be able to manage a giveaway. Stay tuned! (And let me know what you may be planning.)
  • Lovely (and inspiring) dispatch from a “Poetry Utopia at the Barred Owl Retreat,” courtesy of Diane Lockward.

    • Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.