From My Bookshelf: Leon Blum’s “Lettres de Buchenwald”

by Erika Dreifus on
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LBlumdocumentaryThanks to my academic background in modern French history, I was delighted when the Generations of the Shoah International (GSI) Book/Film Discussion Group announced its December 2012 guests: Jean Bodon and Antoine Malamoud, who would discuss the documentary Léon Blum: For All Mankind. Bodon directed the film; Malamoud is Blum’s great-grandson.

I was familiar with much of Blum’s story, especially his status as France’s first Jewish premier, most remembered for leading the Popular Front that came to power in 1936. But the fine documentary—which I was able to watch easily through Amazon Prime; you can also find it on Netflix—covers one piece of Blum’s story that I am ashamed to admit I did not recall clearly at all: Blum was arrested by the Vichy government in 1940 and imprisoned in France for nearly three years, after which he was transferred to German custody. In April 1943, he was moved to a detention site just outside the main camp at Buchenwald, where he remained until 1945. When Antoine Malamoud pointed out that letters that Blum wrote from his German detention to his son Robert (Malamoud’s grandfather, who was a French prisoner-of-war in Germany at the time) have been collected and published, as Lettres de Buchenwald, I was intrigued.

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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).

  • “Spirit First is pleased to announce its fourth annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished.” Deadline: January 31, 2013 (received). Cash prizes: $175/$125/$75. No entry fee. (via WinningWriters.com)
  • Here’s a contest that will award $100 worth of Amazon vouchers: the Clickinks Poetry Competition. “With the start of the New Year we all become focussed on making resolutions and turning over a new leaf. This is why we would like you to write a poem on ‘new beginnings’. The competition is open to applicants of all ages, whether you are a budding or experienced writer, we want your poems! It can be written in any style, as long as it’s no more than 45 lines and must be your own work.” Deadline is February 11, 2013. No entry fee.
  • I’m happy to report that Pamelyn Casto’s newsletter devoted to flash literature is back! This free resource is “devoted to markets, contests, and publishing news for short-short literature 1,500 words or fewer (including short-short fiction, prose poetry, haibun, flash memoirs, flash creative nonfiction, flash plays).” (Be forewarned that not every market included in this newsletter pays, and you may find some fee-charging contests, too. Nonetheless, I subscribe, and you can, too.
  • NYC writers! Applications are open for the 2013 Center for Fiction Emerging Writers Fellowship, which provides an array of benefits (including a $4,000 grant and writing space). Ten writers will be chosen for 2013 fellowships. No application fee. Apply by February 15, 2013.
  • Monmouth University (N.J.) is looking for an Assistant Professor, Creative Nonfiction; the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, is advertising for an Assistant/Associate Professor and Writer-in-Residence; Southwest Minnesota State University seeks an Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing); Naropa University (Colo.) invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Writing and Poetics; and Full Sail University (Fla.) is in search of an Associate Course Director for Creative Writing.

    • Friday Finds for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

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

  • A very basic answer to a very basic question: how to get a book published. Courtesy of Writer’s Digest.
  • Sometimes, the truth hurts. Consider yourself forewarned before you read Carol Tice’s take on “why you keep goofing off instead of writing or marketing.”
  • See which titles made the latest “First Looks” column over on Fiction Writers Review.
  • We can all be part of Cathy Day’s course on Literary Citizenship. Here’s how.
  • And speaking of literary citizenship, the Beyond the Margins team has come up with a wonderful way to acknowledge it: the Above & Beyond Award. (I’m proud to say that I’m now a two-time nominee!) Check out this year’s full nominee list.

    • 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 Jewish news, primarily of the literary variety, from around the Web.

  • It’s always an occasion when a new issue of The Ilanot Review becomes available. The Winter 2013 issue is now online. Its theme: “Foreign Bodies.”
  • Another accolade for Francesca Segal’s The Innocents: the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. (Read the awards press release and my earlier impressions of the book.)
  • The January 2013 Jewish Book Carnival went live this week, hosted by People of the Books.
  • Novelist Ilan Mochari has some advice for Philip Roth’s biographer. In related news, registration for the upcoming Roth@80 conference is now open.
  • Finally: This is a special week for my story collection, Quiet Americans. Read all about it.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Two Years Post-Publication

    by Erika Dreifus on
    4

    QACover2011January is a big time-marker month for my family, especially when it comes to those milestones like birthdays and passings. My paternal grandparents, who provided the source material for much of Quiet Americans, were also married in January, and so there was something particularly appropriate about the book being released on what would have been their 70th wedding anniversary two years ago.

    Just last night, I “met” with a book group via Skype to talk about the stories. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be visiting a congregational group in Brooklyn to do the same. So the book continues to find new readers. Its most recent Amazon review, posted January 8, is a beauty.

    Two years in, I’ve just submitted my eighth quarterly contribution based on book sales to The Blue Card, an organization that continues to support financially-needy survivors of Nazi persecution in the United States. It was a good quarter; with this donation, my book-based donations crossed the $1,000 mark. Long may this continue.

    It seems appropriate this anniversary week to thank you all: readers, reviewers, bloggers-who-have-hosted-or-interviewed-me, those who have invited me to meet with your classes/book groups/conferences/festivals/congregations face-to-face or virtually, and my incredibly supportive friends and family. Special appreciation goes to Last Light Studio and its publisher for making the whole thing possible. I’m also very grateful to the committee that named Quiet Americans an American Library Association Sophie Brody Medal Honor Title and to The Jewish Journal and Shelf Unbound magazine for the special recognitions they have offered.

    You’ve all made these two years so memorable. I thank you once again.