Posts Tagged‘Literary Events’

Home » Literary Events » Page 56

Yiddish Book Center Plans Translation Conference

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

From the Yiddish Book Center:

The Yiddish Book Center and the Fund for Translation of Jewish Literature are proud to announce a working conference entitled, “Translating Yiddish Literature: Mobilizing a New Generation.” The event will take place at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA on Saturday evening, November 12, and Sunday, November 13, 2011. Established and aspiring translators, publishers, students and scholars are invited to attend.

This conference comes at a moment of great urgency and promise. Less than two percent of Yiddish literature has been translated to date, and despite recent efforts (such as the New Yiddish Library), at the current rate it will be another 25,000 years before all Yiddish titles are accessible to English readers.

The goal of the conference, therefore, is to spark a concerted, all-out effort to translate the best of Yiddish literature into English.

For the program and other information, visit the conference webpage. NB: “Limited travel subsidies” are available (apply by September 20).

TBR: Forthcoming Books by Jewish Book NETWORK Authors

by Erika Dreifus on
6

One of the best parts of participating in the Jewish Book NETWORK‘s Meet the Author Program as one of the 2011-12 authors is the opportunity I had on Sunday evening to meet some fellow NETWORK authors whom I’ve admired for a long time. For example, I was able to tell Melissa Fay Greene how much I learned from The Temple Bombing; I finally met Joan Leegant; and, thanks to the privileges of alphabetical order, I sat right next to David Bezmozgis (whose novel, The Free World, I’m just starting to read on my Kindle).

Many of the authors I had the good fortune to meet on Sunday–and others who may have shown up for one of the other sessions (this program is so large that not all of the authors can be accommodated in one evening)–are promoting books that have not yet been published.

Here are just ten forthcoming titles that were discussed on Sunday and/or are featured in this year’s Jewish Book NETWORK guide that I’m especially eager to read. (And if you’re a book reviewer looking for summer/fall titles to review, maybe you’ll find some here to interest you as well.)

  • Ellen Feldman, Next to Love (Spiegel & Grau, July)
  • Martin Fletcher, The List (St. Martin’s, October)
  • Pam Jenoff, The Things We Cherished (Doubleday, July)
  • Jodi Kantor, The Obamas (Little, Brown, November)
  • Peter Orner, Love and Shame and Love (Little, Brown, November)
  • Alyson Richman, The Lost Wife (Berkley/Penguin, September)
  • Rebecca Rosenblum, The Big Dream (Biblioasis, September)
  • Philip Schultz, My Dyslexia (Norton, September)
  • Anna Solomon, The Little Bride (Riverhead, September)
  • Evelyn Toynton, The Oriental Wife (Other Press, July)

    • Two more things: Evan Fallenberg’s novel, When We Danced on Water, was released just last week. So, technically, it’s no longer “forthcoming.” But I wanted to give it (and Evan, an author I’d heard about but hadn’t met before Sunday) a shout-out here, anyway. I also have to mention Randy Susan Meyers’s The Murderer’s Daughters. Randy was there on Sunday to promote the paperback, and I told her very honestly that a copy is atop the stack on my nightstand right now.

    Reactions? Thoughts?

    Notes from Around the Web: Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Very proud to share with you my latest poetry publication, a poem titled “Emor,” on the New Vilna Review site.
  • Speaking of poetry, The Forward‘s Arty Semite blog continues its celebration of National Poetry month here.
  • Mazel tov to the winners of this year’s Canadian Jewish Book Awards.
  • Among those appearing in the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature (April 25-May 1, 2011, in New York) are Israeli authors Agi Mishol, Yael Hedaya, Asaf Schurr, and Evan Fallenberg.
  • Every time I see the call for applications for Write On for Israel I wish I were in high school again (almost).
  • Yes, you have yet another opportunity to win a free copy of my story collection, Quiet Americans!
  • Something I’ll be working on this weekend: my presentation for an upcoming (May 5) conference here in NYC on “German-Speaking Jews in New York City: Their Immigration and Lasting Presence.”

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Notes from Around the Web: Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    (Today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month, and this link list appropriately begins with poetry for the occasion.)

  • On Monday, The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s Arts & Academe blog featured Erika Meitner’s poem, “Yizker Bukh.”
  • Adam Kirsch reviews and recommends Whitethorn, a new poetry collection by Jacqueline Osherow.
  • Yoram Kaniuk has won the Sapir Prize for Literature.
  • “Writer, historian and playwright Jane Mushabac will perform and discuss her Sephardic short story “Pasha: Ruminations of David Aroughetti” on Monday, April 11, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech) Atrium Amphitheater, 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The public is invited to this free event.”
  • Remember that my story collection, Quiet Americans is the Jewish Book Council’s April selection for its Twitter Book Club. Come tweet with us on April 12.
  • And if you’re a Kindle fan, here’s some extra good news: Quiet Americans is now available for the Kindle! And I’m giving away two “copies”!
  • Quiet Americans has also been chosen by a Pennsylvania synagogue for its May book group. I’ll be chatting with the group via phone when they gather. If you’re interested in inviting me to join your discussion of Quiet Americans–or even if you’d just like to peruse a few discussion questions–please click here for more information.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Philip Roth at the Center for Jewish History in May

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    An Evening with Philip Roth

    When: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 (7 pm)

    Where: YIVO/Center for Jewish History (NYC)

    Cost: $25 general, $20 YIVO members

    The YIVO Institute is pleased to present a special evening with acclaimed novelist Philip Roth. Roth will read excerpts from his new novel, Nemesis (2010), which tells the story of a terrifying polio epidemic raging in Newark, New Jersey in the summer of 1944 and its devastating effect on the closely knit, family-oriented community and its children. Through this story, Roth addresses profound questions of human existence: What types of choices fatally shape a life? How does the individual withstand circumstance?

    Following the reading, there will be a panel discussion with YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent, Bernard Avishai (Hebrew University), Igor Webb (Adelphi University) and Steven Zipperstein (Stanford University).