From East Europe to the East Bay: 100 Years After Emigration, a Bar Mitzvah in Berkeley

by Erika Dreifus on
7

I’ve spent so much time writing about my paternal family history–particularly the refugee histories of my dad’s parents–that it sometimes seems as though my mom’s side doesn’t get very much attention. But appearances can be deceiving–just because I haven’t written quite so much about my maternal ancestors doesn’t mean that I don’t think about them. This past week, in fact, I’ve been thinking about them quite a lot. And that’s because I’ve just returned from several days in Berkeley, Calif., a trip occasioned by the Bar Mitzvah of my eldest cousin’s elder child.

My dad is an only child, and my mom is one of two siblings. My sister and I have three first cousins. Gathered together for the Bar Mitzvah, I found myself thinking again about our common past and the significance of our gathering in Berkeley for A’s Bar Mitzvah. I realized (and confirmed via the Ellis Island/Port of New York records) that it was 100 years ago–during the summer of 1913–that our grandmother’s father Jacob had left Eastern Europe to immigrate to the U.S. He left behind his wife (Yettie, after whom I am named), my then-infant grandmother, and two more children (twin daughters, then in utero).

Theirs was not an unusual story. (more…)

Upcoming Seminar on Teaching Holocaust Literature; Applications due October 21

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a call for applications for participation in the 2014 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar, “Holocaust Literature: Teaching Fiction and Poetry,” which will run January 3-8, 2014.

The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies announces the 2014 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar. This year’s Hess Seminar is designed for professors who are teaching or preparing to teach English, Jewish studies, modern languages, literature, or other courses that have a Holocaust-related literature component. Sessions will focus on imaginative responses to the Holocaust created by a variety of writers, from those writing during the Holocaust to survivors to second generation authors to those without an explicit family connection to this event.

The seminar will be co-led by Anita Norich, from the Department of English Language and Literature and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at University of Michigan, and Erin McGlothlin, from the Departments of Germanic Languages and Literatures and of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Washington University in St. Louis.

Applications are due on October 21, 2013. For application guidelines, please visit the museum’s website.

Monday Markets for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • Open for submissions: “Milkweed Editions is a nonprofit literary press, publishing between fifteen and twenty books each year. Founded in 1980, we have published nearly three hundred titles and are committed to attracting and retaining outstanding writers whose work is of enduring value. Our mission is to identify, nurture and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.” Considers fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and middle grade/YA. (h/t Lené A. Gary)
  • I’m not normally an enthusiastic sharer of contests that employ public voting, but I’m making an exception to tell you about the Second Annual Work Stew Essay Contest, organized by one of my college classmates (public voting leads to the selection of finalists, but a judge chooses the winner). Here’s the prompt: “Bring us into your world. What is something about your work (past or present) that outsiders typically don’t understand? It can be something required by the job, something that happens on the job, something you feel about the job—but whatever it is, do not exceed 800 words.” Prizes: 1st place, $1,000; 2nd place, $400; 3rd place, $100. As always, be sure to read the fine print! There’s no entry fee, and the deadline is July 22, 2013.
  • From Interfictions: A Journal of Interstitial Arts: “Interstitial writing breaks rules, transgresses boundaries, and cross-pollinates the fields of literature. Working between, across, through, and around the borders of literary forms, it falls between the cracks of other movements, terms, and definitions. We are looking for work that blurs the lines between literary genres (contemporary realism, mystery, historical, fantasy, speculative fiction, westerns), as well as pieces that bridge fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry.” Submission window closes July 31, 2013. Pays: $.05/word for fiction, $20/poem, $.03/word for nonfiction. NB: “We’re also interested in interviews with boundary-crossing artists. Please query if you know someone you’d like to interview, and let us know why you think this person’s work would interest us. We seek interviews of 2000-3000 words, and pay a flat rate of $50/interview.” (h/t @Duotrope)
  • From the American Psychoanalytic Association: “The Award for Excellence in Journalism recognizes professional reporting of outstanding merit that contributes in an exceptional way to the public understanding of psychoanalytic and psychological principles and phenomena. The $1,000 award is broadly conceived. Nominated work need not be specifically about psychoanalysis or psychotherapy per se. And, nominated work may critique or question psychoanalysis as long as it advances understanding of human relationships and/or the life of the mind.” Eligibility: The submitted work “must have been written in English, intended for the layperson, and must have been first published between July 1 and June 30 for decision the following October. The deadline for submissions is September 16, 2013.”
  • “The Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison seeks a fiction writer at the rank of assistant professor (tenure-track). We welcome applications from writers with excellent records of publication, teaching, and service. Candidates with administrative and fund-raising experience, and qualifications in a secondary genre (poetry, creative non-fiction, screen writing), are preferred.”

    • Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: While I’m Away

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    I’m heading out to the West Coast early this morning for a family event, so I’m going to “cheat” and give you the weekly “finds for writers” links, which usually show up here on Friday, today. And I’m taking Friday “off.” Have a great few days–see you back here on Monday! And Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

  • It began as an innocent conversation between two riders on the D.C. Metro about Lauren Groff’s Arcadia. Here’s what happened next.
  • “8 Important Questions to Ask Before You Publish Your Book.” More wisdom from Carol Tice.
  • “My [paternal] grandparents had only one child, and the next generation is just me and my sister…so the story is mine to work out and tell.” Those could be my words, but they aren’t. They’re Rebecca Makkai’s, in a fascinating conversation organized around her amazing new Harper’s piece.
  • One writer tests his theory that “publishing in print literary journals is useless.”
  • Quite possibly, you’ve already heard the news that Alice Munro has declared her retirement from short-story writing. I’ll confess that I’m not looking forward to the all-too-likely wave of essays that will follow this announcement. Still, this New York Times article is worth a read, especially for the encouraging quote: “I think short stories are taken more seriously now than they were.”

    • Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Okay, they’re a couple of days early–usually, I post these links on Friday morning, pre-Shabbat. But I’m traveling this week, so I thought I’d get these out to you ahead of time. Shabbat shalom in advance!

  • Check out these calls for artists/writers from Jewish Currents.
  • “The Israel Institute is offering research grants of up to $10,000 for scholars, academics, and independent researchers to conduct substantive research on issues related to modern Israel. Areas for research may include, but are not limited to, Israeli history, politics, economics, and law. The grants are aimed at facilitating the publication of a book or a number of scholarly articles that make a serious contribution to the field of Israel Studies or promotes a greater understanding of modern Israel.” Next deadline is August 1.
  • Over on Tablet, discover a new group of “baal teshuvahs—a small but influential movement of incoming Chabad artists who are reinventing the arts in the Hasidic community.”
  • Last weekend, I saw the beautiful new Israeli film, “Fill the Void,” which is being described as “Jane Austen for Jews.”
  • Also last weekend, I read Miriam Katin’s new graphic memoir, Letting It Go, the primary focus of which is, as noted in Tahneer Oksman’s review for the Jewish Book Council, “Miriam’s inability to accept her adult son’s decision to move to Berlin, a city that represents her dark past.” It is a stirring and visually beautiful book. Recommended.