Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • First up is an event taking place this Sunday–in Yiddish–at NYC’s Center for Jewish History: “The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research together with the Congress for Jewish Culture, CYCO Books, the Forward Association, the Jewish Labor Committee, and the Workmen’s Circle invite you to attend a commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Soviet Yiddish writers and other members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee at the hands of Stalin. There will be several short films based on the poetry of Perets Markish; Boris Sandler, editor of the Forward, will read his own poems; well-known singers Hy Wolfe and Paula Teitelbaum will sing and recite poetry; Shane Baker will recite poetry; David Mandelbaum of New Yiddish Rep and Paul Glasser of YIVO will read prose. The emcee will be Tom Bird of Queens College.”
  • Lots to think about in Ilana Sichel’s review of Anouk Markovits’s I Am Forbidden.
  • In somewhat related news: Zackary Sholem Berger profiles “the writers and editors behind the astonishing rise of Orthodox magazines and fiction.”
  • The passing of businessman and philanthropist Sami Rohr this week has been noted in many quarters. Among the most lovely tributes is Gal Beckerman’s.
  • Finally, yet another contest from The Whole Megillah: “Yom Kippur often gets us thinking about our departed loved ones and our own lives. Perhaps you’ve even written your reflections about your family or yourself. If you have a memoir manuscript in progress, consider submitting its first page to The Whole Megillah First Page Competition for Memoir.”
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Words of the Week: Bret Stephens

    “But the important point is not whether you’re for a democratic Israel or you’re for a Palestinian state. The important question is how that Palestinian state is going to come into being, whether it’s going to be a — it’s going to come into being in a negotiated and peaceful way and, also, what the character of that state is going to be in the future.

    Is that state going to be a progressive, forward-looking, liberal-minded state that really wants to live in peace with Israel or is it going to be another miniature of Lebanon or Iran or another state the sort of remains irredeemably intent on destroying what remains of Israel.

    That’s the issue. It’s like needing an operation. Just because you need an operation, I think both Peter [Beinart] and I can agree that, at some point, Israel might need an operation, doesn’t mean that you just take out the hack saw and cut off your leg because otherwise you’re faced with the possibility of the cancer spreading.”

    Source: Fareed Zakaria GPS. I watched this on Sunday and I thought that in these lines, Stephens captured something significant. (Emphasis in the second paragraph is mine.)

    FROM THIRTYSOMETHING TO MOVING WATERS: A Q&A WITH RACELLE ROSETT

    About three years ago, I gave a presentation on publishing short stories at a conference run by the Jewish Book Council here in New York City. Among the attendees was Racelle Rosett, who impressed me immediately as someone who knew quite a lot about writing short stories and who also shared my interest in writing about Jewish experience. We have stayed in touch since that conference. I’ve been delighted to see Racelle’s stories in print and online, and I’ve recommended them to friends and family. Now, I’m thrilled to introduce Racelle here on the occasion of the publication of her debut story collection, MOVING WATERS.

    Racelle Rosett is the winner of both the MOMENT Magazine-Karma Foundation Prize for Jewish short fiction and the LILITH Fiction Prize. Her work has also appeared in TIKKUN, PLOUGHSHARES, NEW VILNA REVIEW, JewishFiction.net, SANTA MONICA REVIEW, and ZEEK. As a television writer, she won the WGA award for THIRTYSOMETHING. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

    Please welcome Racelle Rosett!

    ERIKA DREIFUS (ED): Racelle, congratulations on the publication of MOVING WATERS. Your background includes a successful career writing for television. How has that background infused your work as a writer of short fiction? (more…)

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Some Jewish literary links to close out the week.

  • First up: Looking for some titles for your book club? Check out Makom’s suggestions for books by Israeli writers (books in English translation).
  • Next: Earlier this summer, I was lucky enough to attend “The Uses of History in American Jewish Fiction,” featuring novelists Anna Solomon and Dara Horn and moderated by Josh Lambert. And now, all of you are lucky enough to be able to watch the event on video.
  • Some exciting changes are afoot at The Forward.
  • Guess who’s coming to CUNY’s Baruch College this fall? Etgar Keret! I’m already marking my calendar.
  • As we begin preparing for Rosh Hashanah, The Whole Megillah has announced its First Pages Competition for Jewish-themed middle grade and young adult manuscripts (fiction or nonfiction). Deadline to enter: September 15.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday, My Machberet presents a set of Jewish Literary Links to close out the week.

  • I’ve publicized application deadlines for the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative in the past. The latest issue of Moment features an article reported through that initiative. It’s gripping–if dispiriting–reading about anti-Israel sentiments and activism in Olympia, Wash.
  • Q&A with Lesléa Newman on the occasion of the adaptation for the stage of her short story, “A Letter to Harvey Milk.”
  • Sample poems from “four Jewish guys”: Philip Terman, Jake Marmer, Jay Michaelson, and Yehoshua November.
  • On my other blog, Practicing Writing, I make it a point to publicize only calls for submissions that promise payment to contributing writers. But because the literary marketplace for specifically Jewish-themed writing is smaller, I’ll consider nonpaying calls for My Machberet. This call, for work to be included in A Family Treasury of Mitzvah Stories, is one example.
  • And as the 2012 London Olympics open today, I remember the 11 Israeli athletes murdered 40 summers ago in Munich. Part of the commemoration: I’ve recorded brief excerpts from my short story, “Homecomings.” Background and link to the audio here.
  • Shabbat shalom.