Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Hadar Goldin: Art, Inspiration, Hope

Last Wednesday I attended an opening reception for an exhibition of art by Hadar Goldin. At 23, the artist was a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces in August 2014 when, as I wrote for Tablet, “he was kidnapped and killed in Gaza by Hamas terrorists…just two hours after a cease-fire was declared in Operation Protective Edge hostilities. Three years later, Hamas has not returned his body. The exhibition thus not only celebrates Hadar’s life and artistic talents; it is also intended to raise awareness of his story and to compel international action to bring him—and Oron Shaul, another soldier killed in Gaza that summer whose body Hamas has not released—home to their families in Israel.”

Celebrating Shai Held and The Heart of Torah

If last week’s event was bittersweet, last night I attended a wholly festive celebration: the book launch for Rabbi Shai Held’s The Heart of Torah: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion.

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Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Tally-Ho!

As you’ll recall, my year of blogging for Poetry Has Value reached its end a number of months ago. But that doesn’t mean I can’t continue to share my poetry submission stats with you. So here’s the report for the month of August.

If you’re new to these posts, it may be helpful for you to know that I work very hard to submit my work mainly to paying venues that don’t charge fees for journal/website publication. If you’re similarly looking for paying calls and contests that don’t charge submission fees, you’re always welcome to check my monthly newsletter (and with my weekly “Monday Markets” posts on this blog).

On with the latest report: (more…)