Words of the Week: Seth Pinsky

“For a long time, we’ve made the decision that we’re not going to welcome people who are racist to our stage. We’re not going to welcome people who are homophobic or people who are misogynistic to our stage….We have adopted a policy of continuing to welcome diverse perspectives to our stage, including those of people who are critical of Israel. And we’ve essentially drawn only one red line. The red line is that if you actively call for the destruction of the State of Israel, or question its legitimacy, then you’re welcome to have that opinion in the world, but we’re not going to give it a platform.”

—Seth Pinsky, quoted in “92NY Splits With the Cultural Elite” (New York Magazine)

Jewish Literary Links

an open book (with Hebrew pages visible); subtitle reads "Jewish Literary Links"
Image by Yedidia Klein from Pixabay

Toward the end of each week, the My Machberet blog presents a collection of links, drawn primarily from the world of Jewish books and writing.

Wishing everyone a Shabbat shalom. #AmYisraelChai. And #BringThemHomeNow.

Occasional Notes from a Practicing Writer

This past Sunday afternoon, I moderated a panel titled “Addressing Antisemitism in Our Literary Lives” at the 2023 Jewish Book Council Writers’ Conference. In addition to moderating, I participated as a panelist. And below, you’ll find the handout around which most of my remarks were organized.

As I made clear at the session’s outset, I was speaking for myself only—not for the Jewish Book Council, and not for any of my co-panelists, either. I also said that there was no way I’d be able to cover everything there was to say. That would have been the case even if the session had been held before October 7. (In fact, we proposed the panel last summer, which is also when it was accepted. Because, unfortunately, antisemitism in literary and literary-adjacent spaces is not new.)

I hope that you’ll find this to be a helpful resource. (Don’t neglect the footnotes!)

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Finds for Writers

Another week, another atypical Friday post.

Normally, I post a set of particularly Jewishly-inflected literary links over on the My Machberet blog each Thursday. And the next day, I link to that post as one of several “finds” for the broader writing community right here on Practicing Writing.

But in my world, and for many of you, nothing’s normal right now.

Here’s what I posted on My Machberet yesterday.

And in this space today, I’ll post some items that, more urgently than usual, seem important for both blogs’ audiences to encounter.

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