Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Lilith held a launch party! Here’s a report.
  • Paper Brigade provides a snapshot of the previous year’s Jewish literary landscape while also exploring the history of Jewish literature in America and abroad. The publication is comprised of articles, interviews, personal essays, fiction, poetry, photography, and illustrations that, together, highlight the breadth and diversity of Jewish books today. The 2018 issue of Paper Brigade will be published in November 2017, and will primarily be focused on 2017 books.” Currently accepting “original, unpublished nonfiction between 1,500 and 2,500 words….Pieces should involve a 2017 book, and we encourage authors to be creative about the ways in which they accomplish this. (We’re not looking for straightforward book reviews.) The majority of our articles feature more than one book, and they often discuss trends in current literature or explore books in the context of older traditions.” Pays: “We provide a small honorarium for original nonfiction.” Deadline: “Submissions are due by April 24, 2017, and are accepted on a rolling basis. We encourage you to submit as early as possible.”
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    My Year in Jewish Books

    StarFor the past five years, I’ve found it useful (and kind of fun) to look back on “my year in Jewish books.” So, borrowing some of the same introductory wording, I’m going to attempt to do something similar for 2016.

    Reviewing my reading for 2016 (thank you, Goodreads!), I can see that, again, I do not and would not ever limit my reading to “Jewish books” exclusively. (By the way, in case you haven’t heard me say this before, I define “Jewish books” in the simplest terms as books with substantive Jewish content. In my view, non-Jewish authors can write “Jewish books.” And Jewish authors can write books that don’t strike me as overtly Jewish.)

    But this year, as usual, I did read quite a few books that fall within the “Jewish book” category. And, as an advocate for Jewish literature, I’m proud of that.

    Below, you will find these books presented in the order in which I read them (most recent first).  I have also disclosed how I obtained each book: P (purchase), R (complimentary review copy), L (library), G (gift), or FTB (for books I’ve read in manuscript prior to their release from Fig Tree Books in my job as FTB media editor OR as part of the ongoing series of spotlights posts on past winners of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award). (more…)

    Words of the Week

    “Every day we are learning how to speak up and face down hatred. Last year, my son’s middle school learned what happened on April 20—Hitler’s birthday. The seventh grade boys sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Hitler during lunchtime. After this happened we learned from my son that the song leaders had been making anti-Semitic comments and telling ‘Holocaust jokes’ in my son’s presence. My son is one of four Jewish-identified kids in his school. While the principal immediately disciplined the students who sang, I met with the principal to make it clear how we interpreted these incidents. This was not merely bullying. When a group of students tells another that his community should have been wiped out in the Holocaust, that is terrorizing.”

    Source: an important, timely essay by Francine Green Roston, “What It’s Like Being a Jewish Family Who Lives in Montana,” on Kveller.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Want some free copies of Lilith magazine? Check out this offer.
  • Jewish Journal‘s latest poem: “Miriam Lives in Apt. 2C,” by Sivan Butler-Rotholz.
  • Jewcy wants to know: “What Was Your First Experience With Anti-Semitism?”
  • PSA: Guess what’s up on Goodreads??? Put Abigail Pogrebin’s ‪My Jewish Year on your “want-to-read” shelf, and you should be notified as soon as the giveaways commence.
  • And I enjoyed this Chabad.org video that runs through “101 Authors Who Didn’t Write the Bible.”
  • Shabbat shalom.