Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Quarterly Contributions, Yom HaShoah, and Recent Reviews

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

BlueCardAs I mentioned not too long ago, my book of short stories, Quiet Americans, has been out in the world for a little over two years. And at the end of every quarter, I offer a financial contribution based on recent sales to The Blue Card, an organization that supports survivors of Nazi persecution. Within the next week, Q1 for 2013 will draw to a close; if you’ve been meaning to purchase a copy of the book, now would be an especially meaningful time to do so, with Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) coming up on April 7-8.

I continue to be surprised (and deeply moved) by the reviews that readers share online after they read Quiet Americans. Most recently, on Goodreads, I’ve discovered these assessments:

Normally I dismiss short story collections because they do not allow me to become involved in the characters and the plot. Quiet Americans was different. All the stories revolved around the individuals and families coping with life before, during, and after the Holocaust. The characters were real, multi-dimensional, and the stories moving. Like others, I look forward to reading more from this author.

A powerful collection of short stories. While each vignette stands on its own, they all form a cohesive, striking portrait spanning several generations. Characters, like Dr. Weldmann, are faced with crucial decisions: to speak out or to stay silent. Dreifus’s narrators may vary in point of view but they never fail to draw us in quickly. The narrator of “Matrilineal Descent” breaks through that fourth wall to speak to its readers who, like the narrator, may have researched their ancestors only to find indeterminate statements “für tot erklärkt seit..” Refreshing to pick up a book by a young US writer with a gift not only for English but for other languages. I look forward to Ms. Dreifus’s next book.

QACover

(The penultimate line of that second review held extra meaning for me given what some of you may remember I encountered as an MFA student.)

In any case, as another quarter closes, and another Yom HaShoah approaches, I remain infinitely grateful for the support that Quiet Americans continues to garner. Thank you all so very much!

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
3

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

  • Making the rounds this week: how The New Yorker ended up rejecting one of its own stories.
  • On literary shindigs, author photos, and Yaddo rejections – a post by Jami Attenberg.
  • One writer shares “5 Unexpected Lessons from Inside the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.”
  • Marisa Silver, on being a “California Writer.”
  • Behind the scenes at Girl Talk, a wonderful poetry reading organized each year by Diane Lockward.

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

    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.

  • Tempting conference coming up at Princeton University on Sunday, April 7: “American Jewish Culture: ‘Fresh Vitality in Every Direction.'” Including literary directions.
  • If you aspire to write Jewish-themed children’s books, you may want to look into this workshop, scheduled for June at the Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, Penn.
  • The Ilanot Review seeks “hybrid literary texts” for its next issue. Deadline: April 30.
  • New to me this week: TheTower.org, which “features reporting and analysis of geopolitical, security, economic, social and other events and trends affecting the Middle East and America’s interests in the region.” (h/t @dg_myers)
  • Thanks to David Remnick, you may feel as though you, too, were able to attend Philip Roth’s 80th birthday party.

    • Shabbat shalom.