Words of the Week: Phyllis Chesler

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

You know how some people threaten to cancel magazine subscriptions because of the covers that greet them (and their families) when they take the new issue out from the mailbox? Well, right now I’m seriously considering canceling my TIME subscription. Not because the cover (issue date: September 13, 2010) was lewd or inappropriate for young eyes. But rather, because the cover was coyly outrageous, unfair, offensive, and inappropriate for any eyes.

And so I share with you some wise words from Phyllis Chesler, motivated by this cover story.

I hope that people more fully understand that TIME Magazine as well as countless other media in the Western world, can no longer be trusted to tell the truth.

So sad. But so true.

J-Job Alert: Los Angeles

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“The Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists, the leading supporter of emerging artists creating new Jewish culture, has a part-time opportunity for an Associate Director based in Los Angeles. We are looking for a self-motivated, resourceful and detail-oriented person to join the Six Points team. Working under the supervision of the fellowship’s New York-based Director, the Associate Director administers the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles-based program. The Associate Director will work collaboratively with the Six Points Fellowship Director, who will play a significant role in devising and implementing the long-term strategy for the Los Angeles Fellowship Program.” For more information, check the Idealist.org listing.

Jonathan Franzen in NYC on September 8

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Some of will surely be otherwise occupied on Wednesday night (brisket, anyone? evening services?). But if you’re going to be in NYC and have been intrigued by all the attention going to Jonathan Franzen and his new novel, you may want to see the author himself at the Union Square Barnes & Noble.

As The Jewish Week has noted:

Jonathan Franzen is not Jewish. But his latest novel, “Freedom,” perhaps the most anticipated novel of the year, is chock full of Jewish characters. Centered on a mixed marriage between a Christian and a Jew, Patty Berglund is the Jewish half. Given Franzen’s penchant for superbly rendered characters, it’s no wonder that Patty seems an echt-upper class, secular American Jew. Or does she? There’s already been a fair amount of online chatter that Patty and, more importantly, about a family friend in the novel who is a prominent Jewish neocon, is more caricature than realistic character. Of the Jewish neocon friend, Franzen writes: “He spoke of the ‘new blood libel’ that was circulating in the Arab world, the lie about there having been no Jews in the twin towers on 9/11, and of the need, in times of national emergency, to counter evil lies with benevolent half-truths.”

Notes from Around the Web

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

It’s good to be back presenting Friday Lit Links for you! I have to confess that a shocking number of links this week will take you elsewhere within erikadreifus.com, but thankfully, I have managed to find several items worth your time elsewhere, too!

Let’s get going:

  • A conference presentation podcast I hope to listen to myself this weekend, on “what’s hot in Israeli fiction.”
  • This profile will help American readers get to known British author Howard Jacobson
  • A review of Jon Papernick’s new short story collection, There Is No Other (a book that I’m hoping to read soon).
  • A teaching job for an English-language fiction writer in the creative writing program at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
  • An interview with author Allison Amend
  • And, given the rapid approach of the High Holy Days, an essay from my own archive: “Reflections During the Days of Awe.”

Shabbat shalom!

Teaching Position for a Fiction Writer in Israel

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

A job announcement from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan):

The English Department at Bar-Ilan is seeking to fill a full-time appointment of a fiction writer to teach one graduate workshop in fiction, and two undergraduate literature courses a year, and to coordinate the fiction track of the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing (http://www.biu.ac.il/HU/en/cw). Duties include advising MA fiction candidate theses. Qualifications: The successful candidate will have published at least one novel or short story collection with a reputable press, and will have experience teaching fiction writing in a university setting. Candidates with experience in literary nonfiction or translation, or who possess a Ph.D., are especially desirable. Contact: Dr. Marcela Sulak, Director; mmsulak(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education