Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • What is “Jewish fiction”? In this video from a recent event in Toronto, Dr. Nora Gold shares some thoughts and cites reflections from Allegra Goodman, A.B. Yehoshua, Marge Piercy, Ruth Wisse, and D.G. Myers.
  • Ruth Franklin reviews Holocaust Literature: A History and Guide, by David Roskies and Naomi Diamant.
  • An review of and an excerpt from Rutu Modan’s The Property (trans. Jessica Cohen).
  • “Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture is delighted to announce the establishment of ‘The Amsterdam Prize’ – an annual short essay competition for young scholars.”
  • I meant to share this earlier: one cantor’s reflections on the Unetaneh Tokef prayer, complete with multiple audio clips.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • Ami Eden reports from the Foundation for Jewish Culture’s awards gala–and offers a link to an audio recording of author Michael Chabon’s acceptance speech.
  • “This fall the Tikvah Advanced Institutes will offer 9 courses–ranging from 1 week to 4 weeks–in the areas of Jewish Thought & History, War & Statesmanship, and Economics & Policy. Institute participants will be generously funded. Apply now.” These institutes will be held in New York; one, taught by Ruth Wisse, will focus on “The Modern Jewish Condition: A Study in Yiddish Literature.”
  • If you can, sit in on one of the Jewish Plays Project festival performances here in New York this month. On Tuesday, I had the privilege of attending a reading of “The Law of Return,” by Martin Blank, “an original spy thriller inspired by the factual events surrounding the 1984-85 Jonathan Jay Pollard espionage case.”
  • Among the articles noting the passing of Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk this week: Nicole Krauss’s tribute.
  • The 48th annual Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) conference starts on Sunday in Houston. The AJL will live-blog via Facebook and share posts on Twitter (hashtag #AJL13), too.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • “What really brings Ayelet Tsabari’s stories to life are her characters, people that you rarely meet in Israeli fiction.” The Times of Israel‘s Ellis Shuman’s verdict on Israeli-Canadian Tsabari’s The Best Place on Earth: “Highly recommended.” I agree!
  • “3G” writer and scholar Anthony Levin is among the panelists featured in this recording from Australia, “Keeping the Memory and the History of the Shoah Alive.”
  • New Yorkers: “LABA is a non-religious Jewish house of study and culture laboratory at the 14th Street Y. Every year LABA selects a group of around 10 fellows — a mix of artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and others — to join us for a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme, and then interpret these texts in their work which is featured in LABAlive events and the quarterly online journal.” The theme for 2013-14 will be “Mother,” and fellowship applications are due by July 31, 2013.
  • The Yiddish Book Center has an interesting project under way, “a series of ongoing interviews with relatives of Yiddish authors,” with some examples already online.
  • Last, but by no means least: a blog post by one of the JCC Boston Diller Teen Fellows, “selected yearly based on their leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel, and passion for serving their community.” I’ve known Hannah since before she was born–I’m kvelling!
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • Coming soon! Open: The Festival of New Jewish Theater at the 14th Street Y in New York will take place June 10-30. I attended last year, and I’m looking forward to dropping by again.
  • The Forward previews a slew of new Jewish books for summer.
  • As I think I’ve mentioned, one of the books I’m hoping to read this summer is Rutu Modan’s The Property (trans. Jessica Cohen), which appears to belong to the ever-growing corpus of “3G” literature. As noted in this week’s Publishers Weekly profile: “Inspired by her family origins and family secrets, [Modan] wanted to write a story about a Jewish grandmother who, with the help of her granddaughter, reclaims her property in Poland that was seized during the war.”
  • Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, which will be published in November, is the inaugural winner of the Natan Book Award. (I happen to be reading an electronic galley of this book at the moment.)
  • Win a bundle of Jewish-interest books from the Jewish Book Council.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards Update

    I’ve been wondering what was happening with the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience. I routinely enter (and lose) this competition, and it seems to have a spring deadline. I wasn’t finding any updates online for this year’s contest, and then, lo and behold, an email message arrived this morning.

    The message was from Michal Mahgerefteh, publisher/editor of Poetica Magazine, Contemporary Jewish Writing and Art, and it informed me that the 2013 competition is being administered by the magazine.

    The contest is open to all writers, irrespective of ethnicity or religious affiliation. Poems should address “Jewish Experience.” There’s no entry fee, and the deadline for 2013 is November 15. “Total prize money of $3000 will be distributed between 1-3 places and honorable mentions.”

    You can find full guidelines here.

    Thanks to Ms. Mahgerefteh for contacting me.