Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • On the occasion of the publication of Herman Wouk’s latest novel, Adam Kirsch revisits Wouk’s major writings and career.
  • A big thank-you to The Kenyon Review for posting audio of Elie Wiesel’s acceptance speech on November 8, when he received the 2012 Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement.
  • Paid, part-time internship opportunity with the Jewish Book Council in New York. Apply by December 17.
  • Further thoughts stemming from Philip Roth’s retirement announcement, from Jason Diamond and D.G. Myers.
  • Right after his November 15 reading at Baruch College, Etgar Keret headed home to Israel. Shortly thereafter, it seems, he wrote this.
  • This week was, again, a time when I (to paraphrase a rabbi friend) thought often of our cousins in the East. To stay informed, I relied extensively on The Times of Israel, Tablet, Jeffrey Goldberg, and the URJ’s Israel page.
  • Shabbat shalom to all. And special thanks to RJ.org for publishing my poem, “Questions for the Critics,” on Tuesday.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • Coming soon (as in: next Tuesday, November 20): the next meeting of the Jewish Book Council’s Twitter Book Club, featuring Shani Boianjiu and The People of Forever Are Not Afraid.
  • You’ve likely heard the news: Philip Roth is done with writing! Eitan Kensky reads the announcement more closely.
  • From Judy Bolton-Fasman: Q&A with Michael Lowenthal, whose latest novel, The Paternity Test, “gracefully merges gay marriage, Jewish identity, sexuality, the Holocaust, Jewish continuity and sexual fidelity in one story.”
  • Moment magazine has announced the topic for this year’s “Elephant in the Room” essay contest. Click here for details.
  • Glad to see that The Jewish Week’s “Well Versed” arts blog seems to be back.
  • Wishing everyone–especially in Israel–a Shabbat Shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • This week, Kenyon Review Online published “The Golem of Zukow,” a gripping short story by Helen Maryles Shankman.
  • Yiddish Book Center staff report back from the most recent American Literary Translators Association, shining a special spotlight on a “Translating Israel” panel.
  • Elie Wiesel and U.S. President Barack Obama will be writing a book together. (UPDATE on Tuesday, November 13: Although this item was reported widely last week, its accuracy is now in doubt.)
  • Among the facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy is The Forward‘s main office in downtown New York. I’ve made a small contribution to help out.
  • I’m off imminently to the JCC Lane Dworkin Jewish Book Festival in Rochester. Can’t wait!
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • Lots of great book coverage in The Forward this week (including, if I may be so immodest as to point it out, my review of a new English translation of Hans Keilson’s first novel).
  • Superb essay by Etgar Keret (translated by Sondra Silverston) on Keret’s “new house in the old country.”
  • Michael Lowenthal has a new novel out, and he talks about it in a wide-ranging interview for The Rumpus that touches on “American politics, gay parenting, and Jewish literature.”
  • Because my early childhood summers were spent at Brighton Beach; because my life, too, is so much about passing stories along; because I, too, treasure moments spent in the company of my mother and my niece–for all of these reasons I loved Jami Attenberg’s post for The Prosen People. (See also Ron Charles’s enthusiastic review of Attenberg’s new novel.)
  • Finally, The Wall Street Journal ran a nice piece this week spotlighting The Blue Card, the organization to which I am donating portions of the profits from sales of my story collection, Quiet Americans.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • First up: You still have a few days to enter a giveaway and (maybe) win a copy of Yuvi Zalkow’s A Brilliant Novel in the Works.
  • Next: This week saw the publication of Shani Boianjiu’s The People of Forever Are Not Afraid. Check out the thoughtful review up on the Jewish Book Council website. (And if you’re wondering why Boianjiu, an Israeli, wrote her debut book in English, here’s your answer.)
  • This week also brought us “Return to Fulda,” a beautiful essay by Kenneth R. Weinstein.
  • Exciting news about a new international Jewish artist retreat. And on a related note: Mazel Tov to the new LABA Artist Fellows.
  • In case you missed it: On my other blog, there’s an announcement about my first book review for the Jewish Review of Books.
  • New Yorkers: Mark your calendars for December 6, when the CUNY Graduate Center will host “Contemporary Jewish-American Writing: What Has Changed?” – an event featuring Edith Pearlman, Mikhal Dekel, Nancy K. Miller, and Judith Shulevitz
  • Shabbat shalom (and l’shanah tovah).