A List of Lists: 2011’s Notable Jewish Books

Now that we are safely ensconced in 2012, I can offer you a “meta” post that collects in a single location links to a number of features on the year-that-was-2011 in Jewish books. As always, I’m a little overwhelmed by how many wonderful titles are out there waiting to be read (more hours in the day, please!). This year, I’m deeply honored that my own short-story collection, Quiet Americans, has earned some generous mentions, too.

So here are my findings: (more…)

Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

  • From Women in Judaism: “We are delighted to announce the electronic publication of two new issues of Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal. The journal can be accessed at www.womeninjudaism.org. Click on the following links to access the new issues: Vol. 8:1 http://tinyurl.com/7plstwa; Vol. 8:2 http://tinyurl.com/lgo2br.”
  • Lisa Katz goes “Beyond Amichai” in her take on contemporary Israeli poetry.
  • Discovered this extraordinary photo-essay-exhibit by Beth Burstein thanks to the lively discussion unfolding in a Generations of the Shoah (GSI) Facebook discussion group. As curator Sura Levine describes it, this work “explores[s] Burstein’s dual identity as an American born well after World War II and as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Intimate and public, these images function at the margins of both the documentary and fine art.”
  • Mazel tov to the National Jewish Book Awards’ latest winners and finalists.
  • Coming up February 16 in NYC: “Soviet-Jewish Experience in NYC, 1972-2000, In Fact and Fiction.” Featuring Anya Ulinich, Lina Zeldovich, Mikhail Iossel, Emily Rubin, and Anneliese Orleck. Tickets are $10 ($8 for Members of the CUNY Graduate Center).
  • Attention, book bloggers! “The Sydney Taylor Book Award committee is preparing to announce the best Jewish kidlit published in the past year. Winners will be revealed in mid-January, and there will be a blog tour for medal-winning authors/illustrators in February! If you’re interested in interviewing a winner and hosting a stop on the blog tour, please let us know! If you’d like to participate, please email Barbara Krasner(at)barbarakrasner(dot)att(dot)net and CC Heidi Estrin at Heidi(at)cbiboca(dot)org.”
  • Yesterday’s main feature on Jewish Ideas Daily was a piece titled “Among the Literati.” Its author: yours truly.
  • Shabbat shalom!
    (Photo by Reut Miryam Cohen.)

    Does Your Kid Love Books?

    If you’ve got a little bookworm on your hands–or you’re perhaps looking for something to help ignite a spark–check out Moment magazine’s Publish-a-Kid contest: “We invite young readers to write book reviews. Winning entries will be published in the pages of Moment. And yes, there will be prizes, too! We’ve selected a list of books for you to choose from. Pick one or more that you enjoy or find intriguing and tell us why!”

    The contest is open to “anyone ages 9-13,” and the magazine “encourage[s] children of all faiths to enter.” There’s no entry fee, and the deadline is February 15, 2012. You can read the 2011 winning entries online, and more about the contest, including the list of potential titles and the full rules/guidelines, right here.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Shabbat shalom!

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

  • I wasn’t able to make it to Amos Oz’s appearance at the 92nd Street Y this week, but while he was in town, Oz recorded this broadcast with Brian Lehrer, and I hope to get to that very soon!
  • Another big prize for Charles Foran’s biography of Mordecai Richler.
  • More about Irène Némirovsky.
  • Némirovsky gets a mention in Trina Robbins’s post for the Jewish Book Council, too. Robbins is the author of Lily Renée: Escape Artist, “a comic by a Jewish woman about a Jewish woman who drew comics.” (Lily Renée was also part of the history of the Kindertransport trains.)
  • The second part of “A Jewish Writer in America,” excerpted from a talk that Saul Bellow gave in 1984, is now online.
  • The praise keeps coming for short-story writer Edith Pearlman.
  • Shabbat shalom!