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.

  • “As an agent, I attract a fair number of queries about Holocaust-related books because of my interest in Judaica. I rarely ask to see these manuscripts, and I’ve never taken on the authors as clients. I know I can’t sell their work. Not many editors, especially of children’s books, want to buy books about Jewish suffering. So why is my new book Holocaust-related?” Read all about agent/author Anna Olswanger’s experience in Publishers Weekly.
  • Mazel tov to Ellen Cassedy, who has won Grub Street’s National Book Prize for her nonfiction book We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust.
  • JewishFiction.Net presents an excerpt from Michael Lavigne’s forthcoming novel, The Wanting.
  • What Brahna Siegelberg gleaned from reading Philip Roth’s latest novels.
  • Last, but not least: As we approach International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I’ve opened another giveaway on Goodreads. This time, two copies of Quiet Americans will be awarded.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: New Quiet Americans Giveaway (and the Reasons for It)

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Last year, I became a member of a Facebook discussion group run by Generations of the Shoah International (GSI). The group (which is “closed,” but open to membership requests submitted to the moderator) discusses specific books and films that are Holocaust-related. And we’ve had some great guests.

    For instance, in December, our guests were documentarian Jean Bodon and Antoine Malamoud, discussing the film Léon Blum: For All Mankind. (Malamoud is Blum’s great-grandson.) This week, I’ve written about the film, and the book it inspired me to read, over on my other blog, My Machberet (where I focus on matters of specifically Jewish literary and cultural interest).

    I’m proud to announce that in March, I will be the group’s special guest. All month, I’ll be engaging in online conversation about Quiet Americans. To mark this occasion–and mindful that we will be commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day a few days from now, on January 27–I’m offering two additional copies of the paperback version of Quiet Americans. Please go on over to Goodreads to enter. The giveaway will close on February 8, allowing plenty of time for reading ahead of the March discussions.

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

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    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.

    (more…)

    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!